Samuel Wolden had never ridden in a car until July. He also didn’t know what ice cream or Christmas was. But now that he’s in the United States, he’s getting a taste of all three.

Wolden, 4, was recently adopted by Mike and Michelle Wolden of West Salem.

The couple made two trips to Samuel’s orphanage in Novosibirsk, Russia, between June and July and brought him home at the end of their second trip. Their son, Tyler, 7, and Michelle’s mother, Roni Westbrook, a daycare provider at Christian Chapel Daycare in Onalaska, also went on both trips.

Michelle said Samuel is adjusting to his new home and surroundings a lot faster than anyone expected.

“He’s very easygoing, laid back,” she said. “He’s taken everything right in stride.”

Samuel was born prematurely and has had respiratory problems all his life. The family adopted Samuel through the Seattle, Wash., based adoption agency World Association for Children and Parents, which said no one else was interested in adopting Samuel because of his respiratory problems.

The problems went away, however, within a few weeks of finalization of the adoption.

“Someone gave him hope,” Roni said.

When the family took him home, it was the first time Samuel had ever set foot outside the orphanage.

They were expecting him to be scared of all the cars he saw as they were driving, but instead he just watched everything and pointed at the cars saying, “machina” — Russian for “car.”

It didn’t take him long to start picking up English.

“By the time we landed in the U.S., he was calling himself Sam,” Michelle said.

Getting him out of Russia wasn’t easy. A day before the family went to go pick up Samuel, news hit Russian newspapers that a mother in North Carolina who had adopted a 2-year-old Russian orphan was charged in the girl’s death. Just months earlier, a Russian child died at the hands of his adoptive mother in Chicago.

The deaths prompted the Russian organization Education and Science Ministry — which oversees adoptions — to require all adoptive parents to undergo a series of psychological tests by Russian officials. The family met with eight different specialists.

As if that wasn’t enough, everywhere they went they were followed by guards.

Furthermore, while in the country the family was not allowed to discuss the reason for their visit or e-mail any pictures of Samuel due to strict Russian laws.

“We were saying God bless the U.S. on the American airlines,” Michelle said.

“Quietly though,” Roni added.

Once back in the United States, despite an easy trip, the family was expecting Samuel to be scared of the two family cats, since he had never seen any pets in the orphanage. But what they noticed was just the opposite.

“He just went over and fell right on him,” Michelle laughed, motioning to one of their cats.

As easy as the adjustment was, there are still plenty of lessons Samuel is learning. During the family’s first trip to Wal-Mart, Samuel wanted to go hug complete strangers because at the orphanage he was taught to believe every new adult he met was safe.

He wants to share everything given to him because he was taught from birth that nothing belongs exclusively to him.

While the family was at the orphanage, Samuel spent 30 minutes drawing a picture that one of the orphanage workers threw out right after he was done since none of the orphans keep anything of their own.

“No, we keep those,” Roni told the worker as she fished it out of the trash.

The orphanage had many drawbacks, but one thing the orphanage taught him was self-reliance.

“He didn’t know how to play, but he knew how to do laundry,” Michelle said. She said he can sweep, brush his teeth and completely bathe himself.

Teaching him about American holidays and traditions has been a memorable experience for the family.

When they lit a jack-o-lantern, Samuel took one look at it and ran away scared.

But when they plugged the lights in on their Christmas tree, Samuel looked at it in awe.

He recently helped to build his first snowman.

“Just watching him grow, watching the wide eyes,” Michelle said of what has been one of the greatest things about having Samuel home.

Getting home wouldn’t have been possible for the family if they hadn’t gotten a $15,000 scholarship from WACAP that covered the adoption fees. Travel expenses totaled about $30,000 for the family.

Samuel isn’t the only one in the family having to make some adjustments. His older brother, Tyler, is learning to adjust to not being the only child.

“You can see signs of sibling rivalry, so the honeymoon period is over,” Roni said.

Michelle said another great part of having Samuel home is seeing him eat as much as he wants of just about anything. In the orphanage, he was restricted to a very basic, bland diet and never ate anything sweet, Michelle said.

Now he’ll ask for 10 scoops of ice cream, but probably because it’s only as high as he can count.

“He got spoiled very quickly when we got back here,” Michelle said.

“We had to make up for the years he missed,” Roni added.