Wanna House-the baby house 
The moment we see you!
Aunt Joan thinks you are so special!
Our home for the week!
Hmmm...what to do with all this luggage!
On June 15, my sister and I left in the wee hours of the morning to fly to Dubai and then on to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to finally bring home our baby daughter, Ella Grace Wubeski Collins. We were so excited that it didn't really matter that we were leaving in the middle of the night. The first leg of the journey we were in economy, but when we checked in at Dubai we were told we had been upgraded to business class. I was so happy, because I knew we would need a good sleep before we picked up our girl.
We arrived in Ethiopia at 11:30am and were picked up by a taxi sent by AAI. It was pretty funny watching the driver and the unofficial "porters" that lurk around the airport load all our luggage in the tiny little taxi. They managed to somehow get it loaded. We had 4 big bags full of donated blankets and our two carry ons. We labored over getting the carryons under the weight restrictions and in the end they were still a little over. But at the airport in Doha, the baggage checker asked if he could pick up Joan's bag and we both cringed until he said, "Your bag is so light, most woman have heavier bags."
We drove straight to the Ritmo guest house. It was a very busy place. Every room was full of traveling families and their children. There are 7 guest rooms and they were all packed. Our room was the last one left and the smallest. It had one big bed that almost filled the room and luckily some narrow shelves at the end of the bed, which came in handy.
We took a minute to get freshened up and went to Layla and Wanna House (AAI's transition home) When we got there, I led us straight to Wanna house. On hindsight I probably should have checked in at the front office but I didn't think about it since I knew the way. We walked into the baby house and there she was! She was sitting in a bouncy seat, surrounded by friends of mine from our yahoo group who were there to pick up their babies. She was just sitting there looking us over and it took a little while for her to warm up to us and give us an amazing smile. From that moment she was with us the rest of the time. It felt so good and right for her to be in my arms.....this little person that God knew would be our daughter.
We eventually got a ride back over to the Ritmo guest house and spent some time playing with her and loving her. I can't remember eating that day or much of anything else. Only that Gail dropped by and when I gave her our paperwork she said that we needed something notarized. Poor Daddy in Doha had to scramble to get a paper notarized and faxed to Gail by Wednesday morning. In the process, he missed a really big presentation that he had been working on for weeks. Adoption is not easy. We were reminded again!
She slept between us on the big bed that first night and she was so still. It was like she was afraid to move. When she would wake up it would take a minute for her to adjust to her new surroundings. She was quick to accept us and love us though. Sweet, brave baby girl!
