| By EJ Bowen,on November 7th,2011 It has been a crazy three months and adding Sergei to our family has been a huge blessing. It has turned out to be so much better than we could have ever hoped for. That doesn’t mean it has been easy just way worth all of the pain of the past year,a truly needed blessing for all of us. So here’s the quick three month update: Name Since we have been in Americahe has chosen to stay with the name Sergei. Good thing we left it as his middle name huh? It was fine with us though. That’s what we have always known him as. School For better or for worse we chose to place Sergei in the 8th grade at Hopewell Middle School here in Georgia. He had completed the 8th grade this past year inRussia but after much thought and prayer we felt that this was the best place for him to start school inAmerica. You know,a one year mulligan if you will… In hindsight it was definitely the right place for him. We didn’t place him in school right away,after all that would have been a little cruel – new family,new language,new country,and here’s you’re new school…. Doh!!! We gave him a couple weeks to adjust and then told him the plan. He was pretty scared at first,as you could imagine. We took him on his first day and said our goodbyes. We were probably more scared than he was. We walked away thinking we just had dropped of a lamb at the slaughter. Only a few minutes after arriving home we get a frantic text – “I don’t understand anything!!!” Seriously,what do we do with that? It’s expected but we were hoping for at least a soft landing on his first day. We talked to his teachers and arranged to let him use the iPad for translation for the first couple of weeks. I showed up during PE expecting to see a deer in the headlights. He ran in,grabbed the iPad and said,“can I go back to class now?” He was doing fine. So good in fact when he got in our car at the end of the day he said “I love American schools!!!” Those were words we didn’t expect. Well he had made friends on the first day and fit right in. He even exchanged phone numbers with friends so he could meet up later. It has now been 2 ½ months in school and he has quickly adjusted. We take him early for extra practice in math and English every day and he loves it. His teachers don’t take it easy on him and yet his lowest grade is a “C”which by the way he brought up from a 5%. Yeah,how do you get a 5% in a class? Oh,just don’t know the language J His language improves every day and he should know more than 1,000 words by Thanksgiving. Now that’s some turbo language learning. He’s even read out loud in class and received a standing ovation from the other kids. We work with him every day on his homework and it is getting easier and easier. This year will be tough but hopefully it will give him a good foundation for high school. Church This was one of those wildcards. Most Russians are not very religious,after all,religion was banned in the early 1900′s. We took him to church on the first Sunday and sat in our usual spot in the back. His first comment was,“I don’t like church!” Uh oh,here we go. We explained to him that this could be a long life because as long as he is living with us he will be going to church. He understood. Now wait until we tell him about the Sabbath Day…. Well something clicked in him and he changed his opinion very quickly. Only about two weeks later he told us that Sunday’s are his favorite day because we get to go to church and it’s Family Day. He seriously won’t let us miss church. Pretty cool huh? Well he has embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ and has decided that he wants to be baptized. This will happen over Thanksgiving when friends and family can make the trip in for the event. Soccer/Sports Sergei is a natural athlete. So much so that he can do a standing back flip. When we asked him how he learned he just said “I taught myself inRussia.” Well we got him on a club soccer team in Alpharetta where the head coach was a Russian named Sergei. Crazy coincidence huh? He even was an ex-pro soccer player from his favorite Russian club. At first he seemed dazed and confused. He hadn’t played organized soccer ever. He was fast and had good skills but didn’t really understand what to do with a team on a big soccer field. Now,he is faster and stronger (partly thanks to P90x) and has become one of the key players on his team. They went from losing their first 5 games to come back and take third place in their league. He has 4 goals on the season and is a true difference maker. He loves sports and we have told him that he will be trying others after soccer. Track for sure (I want him to get even faster) but I’d like him to try baseball too. We’ll see how it goes. By the way,I don’t even come close to keeping up with him he’s so fast. Family Adjusting to having a family went both ways for us. For him he had to learn how to have parents again. For us,how to have a kid in our house. I won’t lie,it hasn’t been easy…. But then what teenager is. Over the past three months we have found out what works for us and what the rules need to be. He understands the lines and what is expected of him. He does everything that he is asked and sometimes a little more. We are learning how to be parents (it’s a process). We have found that the most important things for us is that he always does his best (nothing less),he respects others (especially us and his teachers),trust (us and him) and he works to be better at whatever he is doing. I’m sure things will change over the years but we seem to have a good system for the time being. It works for our family and that’s what counts. Well that’s all for now. We have lots of funny stories but we just haven’t written them down yet. I gotta get on that… but then nobody ever told me how much time it took to be a parent…. It’s ok,it’s worth it. By EJ Bowen,on August 12th,2011 On Saturday,August 6th we boarded the train to the Moscow airport and began our journey home as a family. We were flying on buddy passes (non-revenue standby) this time to keep our costs down at a peak travel time in Russia (or anywhere for that matter). Since it was a Saturday it seemed likely we would be able to make it home. Who travels on a Saturday anyway? Then came the moment of truth,only one available seat on the plane… We hadn’t planned for this… Should we split up? If so,who should go? We had about 60 seconds to decide. When the bell rang we made our decision,send Ashley. After all,two seats should be easier to get than three and I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Ashley in Russia. After watching her go through Security I dropped my head and thought “what have I done?” I had a huge lump in my throat and wished I could take back my decision. David and I then began our trip back to Moscow hoping to go home soon. The gate agent told us that it didn’t look good for several days (as late as Wednesday or Thursday) and that some families had waited as much as a week to leave on buddy passes. When we arrived at our friend’s house in Moscow I began looking for flights hoping to find something reasonable in the next 24 hours. I searched for hours only to come up empty. It seemed as if we were indefinitely stuck in Moscow. Meanwhile,Ashley was on her way to JFK hoping she would make the Atlanta flight home. As you could imagine,luck wasn’t exactly on our side so you can imagine what happened… Now she was stuck alone in NYC. Ahhhh!!! With Ashley in NYC and David and I in Moscowit seemed that our worst nightmare had come true… David and I went to bed accepting the fact that we would not be going home. I laid there just wondering what we should do – then,the phone rang. It was Ashley. She had found a flight through Finland to JFK the next day allowing us to meet up and then all to travel on to Atlanta together. It wasn’t cheap but it was reasonable and made sense given the circumstances so we bought it. I knew I would be lucky to get a couple hours of sleep at this time but I didn’t care,we were going home. I woke David up the next morning and told him the news. We’re going home!!! He was so excited to know that it was for sure this time  We made the trek once again to the airport and had an uneventful trip into NYC. Then the moment of truth,David was an American citizen – or what I like to call,a Russican. We met up with Ashley and took a cab to LaGuardia (hourly flights to ATL). Upon our arrival we looked up at the standby list and our jaws dropped. 190 people on standby to Atlanta and we’re at the end of the list? You’ve got to be kidding me? That’s more than an entire plane… There was no way we were getting home that night or probably the next day for that matter. So now what? We looked at renting a car and driving –+$600… Train? Sold out and expensive…. We were laughing/crying at this point… Just let us get home…. Then the answer came – Ashley found a flight into Birmingham,AL with lots of seats. Close enough for me (2 ½ hour drive toAtlanta). This was about 1,000,000 times better than sleeping at the airport… We spent the next couple hours nervous and hopeful but we were able to get on the flight and made the drive on to Atlanta. After picking up our car and bags at the airport we hurried home and arrived at 5:30AM Monday morning. Yep,5:30AM… It was a pretty anticlimactic arrival for a kid who had been dreaming about this day for years… But we were home,he was home,and his/our new life begins. We are a family. By EJ Bowen,on August 5th,2011 
We’ve always imagined how hard it would to leave everything you know behind —over the last couple of days we’ve witnessed it first hand. When we picked up David on July 26th he seemed completely prepared to leave,I mean,he didn’t even look back once at his school when we left. He had been anticipating that day for months now and had already said all of his goodbyes. After all,he’d been alone (all of his friends are in Ukraine for the summer) for about a month giving him time to be at peace with what was about to happen. If only that were enough. That all changed on Wednesday around 2:45 PM when we boarded the express train to Moscow. We got on about 30 minutes early to make sure we could place our bags on the rack (the train ended up being mostly empty:)… We took our seats excited to move on to the next phase of the process. As we sat there Ashley looked up and realized that everything wasn’t as it seemed. Put yourself in David’s shoes,you are about to leave everything you know behind – your grandma,sister,friends,school,city,and probably scariest of all,your language. At that moment it hit him,he’s leaving and may never come back. We gave him his sunglasses and he gazed out of the window with his hood over his head for what seemed to be an eternity. While we’ve been in Moscow he has told us on multiple occasions that he wishes we could go home to America. He wants to start his new life leaving any bad memories behind and hanging on to any good memories from Russia —his new beginning. This is his life,he is Russian and StP. will always be a part of him. Right now it kind of feels like when you start a new relationship. The relationship is young,and you sometimes feel insecure because it seems like everyone else in their life knows them better than you because they have shared past experiences. After you are together for awhile and experience life together,all of your recent memories begin to include the other person. We are SO looking forward to having a future together and for the day when our pasts have overlapped. I am floored by David’s courage and his foresight at 15 years. One of the toughest lessons to learn in life is sacrifice. It’s easy to give up things that don’t mean much to us,but to give up the things you truly love is a whole different ballgame. He is sacrificing everything for a family. It would have been easier for him to say no and stay in Russia within his comfort zone. But his desire for a family was so strong that he was compelled to leave his life behind for that dream. He told us that there were times when he thought about giving up because it seemed too hard,but we were the first people in his life to not give up on him,and he wasn’t going to give up on us. Families are the greatest gift from our loving Heavenly Father. I have always had parents and family to love and support me. I don’t know what it’s like to not have a family. Through David’s choice,I’ve seen a glimpse at what it would be like. Filling the void of no family is a strong enough desire to walk away from your friends,country,language and life. It is truly humbling to be part of the answer to his prayer. My testimony has been strengthened about our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness and the role of families. We have his US visa in hand and we will be making the long trek home tomorrow. Right now I’m just wondering what will be going through his head when we board that plane to America. All I can say is thank goodness for the PSP and iPad. At least he will be able to focus on something other than leaving everything he knows behind. It’s going to be tough,tougher than any of us could imagine. An end to an era and a new beginning. By EJ Bowen,on August 3rd,2011 
Zenit (pronounced Zen-eat) is the professional team in StP. and David’s favorite Russian football club. When we arrived for our final visit we looked out of our hotel room and were excited to see the Zenit stadium across the river. 
This made us think “I wonder if they’re playing while we’re here?” We quickly got online and were excited see they were. We picked up David and asked if he had ever been to a game. Knowing how many things the different orphanages get to go to locally we were surprised to find out that this was not one of them… The next day we quickly walked over to the stadium to purchase tickets. After all,this probably will be the only chance we all get to go to a Zenit game. 
It was crazy before the game. The river was full of boats waving flags and lighting smoke bombs. We opened our hotel room to only regret it later —Honestly,it really stunk… 
Trust me,he’s excited —and a little scared…. He kept telling us he was afraid of a fight breaking out… 
Imagine if this guy was sitting in front of you…. Biggest flag ever!!! 
Zenit won the game 1-0. It was a pretty crazy environment with people jumping up and down and singing the entire time. My favorite was whistling at the players that were faking injuries. It’s soccer so that was pretty much a constant By EJ Bowen,on July 29th,2011 Yesterday we received David’s domestic passport and had time to file the paperwork for the international passport (they work late hours on Thursday’s). We have been told we can pick it up Wednesday morning and leave for Moscow that afternoon. If all goes well we could be home as early as next weekend (hopefully Saturday). Now we wait… By EJ Bowen,on July 27th,2011  Saying Goodbye Some people refer to this day as their “Gotcha Day” and celebrate it annually like a second birthday. Ashley’s not a big fan of calling it “Gotcha Day”(any alternate ideas are welcomed!) but we are excited for its meaning and after amlmost one year of working on this process today we picked up Sergei and he said goodbye to the orphanage and old life. 
After picking up Sergei we had a chance to meet his Grandma. It was a great experience (she seems great) and she gave us a little insight into their family history. We plan to see her one more time before we leave StP. 
We spent the night with Sergei’s sister Dasha walking around the city. It was good to give him some time to start saying goodbye. They are very close! We weren’t quite prepared to walk for over 4 hours this afternoon,and Ashley got a blister the size of a half dollar on the bottom of her heel from her flip flops. Ouch is an understatement. Tomorrow we will probably take it easy with the walking and I will make her wear her tennis shoes,which aren’t fashionable but are definitely necessary at this point. 
Since Sergei is 15 he has a domestic passport that has to be updated with his new name. This is an extra step that most don’t have to go through (most kids aren’t 14+) so this will add about 3 days to the process. The papers have been submitted and we expect to have the new documents by Friday. So,now we wait and hope that things happen faster than expected so we can get home quickly. Being with Sergei full time again is like we never were apart. He’s wearing us out with his energy and soaking up all the love and attention we can give him. He has grown so much in the past year. His grandma said as soon as he came back from America he started growing like a weed and we must have fed him good. He has put on probably 20 pounds and 5 inches and I can no longer throw him like a rag doll when we wrestle. I just noticed the channel was stopped on a German dubbed CSI Miami. Sergei probably didn’t pay attention to hear it wasn’t English and we didn’t pay attention to hear it wasn’t Russian. All of us thought we were being kind and letting the other watch a show in their language. Haha! By EJ Bowen,on July 18th,2011 This has been a long road that will finally come to an end (or the beginning) about three weeks from today. We will be traveling for our 4th time to StP this coming weekend to finalize the paperwork and to pick up Sergei. We have had 194 people sponsor 944 puzzle pieces. It has been awesome to see the generosity of our family,friends and people we don’t even know. That leaves us with 56 pieces remaining. It seems so small now considering where we started from. Sergei will be so excited to see the support and love shown him and it will surely help him feel loved and wanted. After all,the puzzle fundraiser was about him. This week I will be taking the puzzle to get matted and and then printed with all of the names of the sponsors. We would love to be able to tell Sergei that every puzzle pieces had a sponsor,while accumulating as many names as we possible could for the mat. We’re so close. So,if you or anyone you know would like to sponsor some inexpensive real-estate for a boy that is just about to come home,we would love your support. Feel free to share this post with anyone you know. Thank you everyone for your love,prayers,and sponsorships. The goal was to bring Sergei home and come August we will have accomplished our goal. Sergei will have a new life in America and then the real work begins. By EJ Bowen,on July 14th,2011 
In the most anticipated decision since Lebron going to Miami… The decision is in… Sergei will be taking his talents to North Atlanta. In 12 days we will officially be a family! David Sergei Bowen will officially be the son of EJ and Ashley Bowen on Tuesday,July 26th. In 12 days,we will be together for good. We have been waiting for this day for so long and it almost seems a little surreal. Ashley had been pretty nervous/anxious for the past couple of weeks. I think she was so worried about what she would lose that she could only focus on the things that might prevent it from happening. She didn’t share a lot of her feelings with me,and I think it was really beginning to wear her down. Yesterday,she finally felt some peace after receiving an email from our great friend,Heather,that went through this process a few months ago and is now home with her beautiful daughter. Ironically,Heather gave Ashley the same comforting advice that Ashley had given her back in February. It’s funny how life reciprocates…So Ashley decided to stop worrying and just enjoy the moment. We were reaching an important step in our journey to bring Sergey home,and it was time to shut out the dark and enjoy the light. We wanted to remember this day for being great and spiritual not scary and stressful. Ashley turned the corner with her perspective yesterday,and today was just awesome. We were both so calm and relaxed and knew it would be a great day. We arrived at the court house at noon (our hearing was at 1:00),and we relaxed outside of the courtroom until our turn. We met a nice couple from Italy that had just finished court and were adopting a 16 month old little girl. Sergei and the crew from Kronstadt (his orphanage director,orphanage doctor,and local social services rep) arrived around 12:45. It’s a good hour from Kronstadt to StP. Sergei’s orphanage is all closed up,so he was wearing the only clothes he has –gym shorts,Nikes and a T-shirt we gave him yesterday. I’d venture a guess that was the first time Bob Marley ever made an appearance in Russian court. Sergei was very anxious and nervous. He was pacing the halls and could not sit still. His dream was to have a family and he was about to find out if it would come true. A little before 1:00,we entered the court room and began the hearing. I gave the statement on our behalf of all the reasons that they should grant the adoption. It was two full pages typed,and I would pause after each sentence to allow for translation. When I was finished,the judge asked me a question. Typically,the judge would ask a few questions over a variety of topics regarding us and the adoption (we had been practicing and I was ready),but this judge only cared about one thing. She wanted to know if we could really be a parent to a 15 year old when we are so young,specifically Ashley because she is only 15 years older than Sergei. You know,we hadn’t really talked about that specific concern and I must have given a convincing enough argument because after a few clarifying questions,I was allowed to sit down. Ashley then stood up and she asked her the same question. J In fact,that was the only question she asked everyone,the doctor,director and social worker! She even asked Sergei if he looked at us as parents or older siblings/friends. He gave the best answer. He said,“During hosting,I was shy and did not think of them as my parents,but now I have grown to only see them as my parents.” The judge smiled,and after that it was smooth sailing. An hour and ten minutes after we began,the judge excused herself to ponder her decision. She’s a quick thinker,because as soon as the door shut it reopened and she was ready to announce her decision. We stood and waited for the golden words,“I have decided to grant your adoption.” When she said it everyone smiled and I saw Ashley blinking to try and hold back a few tears. There are 10 business days (they count Saturdays) for any party to appeal and the decision is final July 26th. We exited the court room to a waiting Sergei (he only is present for his questioning) and with big smiles he gave Ashley a giant hug. She whispered to him,“I am so happy,” and he replied,“I,too.” The weight from earlier was gone and I’ve never seen him smile more brightly. I guess that’s what it looks like to have your dreams come true. We said goodbye shortly thereafter and promised to finally come for him for good in 12 days. Four months ago,Sergei said he didn’t think the court would grant his adoption,because “good things don’t happen to his family.” We are so happy to finally (almost) be his parents and show him that not only is he loved by us but he has a Heavenly Father and a Savior that never forgot him. They heard his prayers and brought him a family. Because of his age,it will take at least three extra days to process his domestic Russian passport. We are hoping to be home for good August 6-9. By EJ Bowen,on July 14th,2011 We woke up today with a “Christmas Like”anticipation. Court today at 1PM StP. time —5AM on the east coast. We’re excited and ready to finalize this process. Then begins the 10 day wait —Sergey was dissapointed he couldn’t leave with us tomorrow  He is very excited to start his new life in America. After all,at this point he’s a Russian celebrity back home. By EJ Bowen,on July 13th,2011 We were informed today that the final court paper from Moscow arrived and that we are set for court on Thursday morning. That’s great news on so many fronts but most of all that barring any setbacks Sergey should be coming home with us in mid August. The last wild card in play seems to be the USA/Russia adoption treaty that will reportedly be signed tomorrow. We’re praying for zero impact on all adoptions “in process”and would ask that you do the same. Thinking optimistically this is what we expect to happen but know that it is somewhat of an unstable situation. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!! | Donors List –Thank You!!! –213 Total Donors –1,000 Puzzle Pieces SponsoredAlyson Oldham Williams
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