The Blog is Moving --

Hey everyone, thanks for following our story.  We have set up a more complete blog at a different location.  We promise to post a lot more and you can count on frequent posts during Christmas because barring any issues we are hosting Sergey again.  Here is the new website:

http://www.bowenfamilycentral.com/

FedEx Mystery

After a 10 week wait we finally got our FBI clearance back.  This was the last piece of the puzzle that we needed in order to submit our first dossier.  So, we put it in a FedEx envelope and sent it off to our adoption guy, Patrick.  As the package was in route we found out that the address had changed so Ashley got online and had it rerouted to a PO Box that accepts FedEx packages.  After it arrived Patrick went over to pick up the package and it was nowhere to be found.  We called FedEx and they promised it had been delivered and signed for.  After both Patrick and Ashley had spent hours on the phone with FedEx the mystery continued....  So, out of nowhere (a few days later) I get a call from FedEx saying the package is there waiting to be picked up.  Strange huh?  So Patrick went and picked up the package and got a lecture about rerouting a package to a federal post office...   Apparently we had broken the law and the package was grabbed for inspection.  Crazy huh?  Check out how marked up this thing was...

Anyway, our package is now in Russia and we are hoping to submit our dossier by tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

Long Overdue Update

Ok, I apologize for not posting an update in a very long time.  Ashley and I have been working hard on getting our paperwork together and now are starting to feel like we're getting somewhere.  So here's the update.

A while ago I explained process.  Here's the recap:

1. Home Study

2. Dossier #1
3. First Visit
4. Dossier #2
5. Second Visit and Court
6. Third Visit and Return Home as a Family

We finished our paperwork for dossier #1 about 3 weeks ago and it is in Russia being translated as we speak.  Once the translation is complete it will be submitted to Russia and we will await the invite for our first visit.  That typically comes about one month after your submission.  I say typically because there are no guarantees on timelines.  If everything goes well we're hoping to take that visit sometime in January.