BIKE(S)????

When Yulia first came to the US, she told us that she could ride a bike. That was the first of many things she told us she could do when, in fact, she couldn't. It hasn't really been good weather for a bike, but this was a great weekend with temperatures in the 60s.

So, Paul Barry and I thought it would be a great idea to go buy a used bike on which she could learn how to ride. After that, we would buy her a good bike.

So, Pop and Yulia travel over 30 minutes one way to obtain this $10 Huffy. Yulia was thrilled with her pink and purple bike. Until she tried to ride it. She is not the most patient of children, so she became very upset. Well, Pop decides he'll spend $10 more on training wheels. That's when he found out that he couldn't get the screws off of one side of the back tires. They seemed to be rusted in place. But, he can get one training wheel on. Yulia takes off quite happily until the one training wheel crushes under her weight. She was not amused, nor was Pop who saw his $10 purchase quickly escalating. So, Pop and our kind neighbor spent most of the day Saturday trying to get the wheel off the bike. Now the chain is broken and the tire is permanently removed from the bike.

So, after church today, our kind neighbors went to her Mom's house and got her old bike. Problem is it is a large 10 speed. It would be perfect for Yulia heightwise and sizewise, but was just too much for her. (We can't attach the training wheels to this bike.) So, she became very upset and had to be sent to our room.

Think we're just going to go to Walmart and pay $40 for a fully functioning bike with training wheels. So much for saving money.

Below is Yulia flying a kite with our neighbors before she had to be sent inside.

Saturday night, we attended a concert at our church where proceeds go towards Haitian Island Ministries. Money raised will go towards a Christian school and at least one meal a day for the children who are sponsored. Yulia was very interested in the kids and asked, "Can we help her now.?" So, when we got in the car we talked about how lucky we are. How we can eat anytime we want. Go to school. Have clothes to wear. So, when we got home we were talking about how many stuffed animals she has. These are just a few of them. She sleeps with at least 5-6 a night. Poor neglected child! It's amazing how quickly she's forgotten from where she's come.



Glad we had some good weather because snow and ice is headed our way Monday night. Guess we won't have to buy that new bike for a couple of days!!!