NOVI, Mich. – Kathe and Tom Ray thought they were almost done raising children. They have six children, ranging in age from 13 to 31. But, Tom says, "You don't know when you are being called to do something."
They family from Novi is heading to Ukraine this week to adopt three teenagers, Kristina, Anna and Yuri.
This isn't the first time they've adopted. They've been down the expensive, mentally draining road with their son Vlad.
Kathe learned of his story through an email. Vlad came to the U.S. for a hosting program for orphans, but his host family could no longer care for him.
"I kind of went, ‘Nah,' and it bugged me for a few days. So, then I mentioned it to my husband and he said, ‘Sure, why not? We have a couple of teenagers?'" Kathe said.
Once they got past the language barrier, the family learned what so many orphans in Ukraine go through and decided to adopt Vlad last year.
"When we came back from Ukraine the last time I had nightmares for months," Kathe said.
Now this family is opening up their hearts and home to three orphans who are close to aging out of the system in Ukraine.
"I'm mom. They're going to have a great life, a great future," Kathe said.
The family is blogging about their adoption journey and travel to Ukraine, you can read it here.
Anyone who would like to donate financially to the family's adoption adventure can be made at PayPal.com using the emailarbonnekathe@msn.com. The family says to mark the donation as a gift to avoid fees.