Our story
We met in Edmonton, AB, while Jacqueline was doing her education degree at Campus Saint-Jean, a French campus of the University of Alberta. Brent was meeting up with friends to go skiing in Jasper. He was working in Fort McMurray, AB at the time. We ended up at the same place at the same time and have been together ever since. We met in February 2009 and were married in 2011 in Jacqueline’s hometown. We moved to the Sunshine Coast for Brent’s work the summer we were married, to be closer to where Brent grew up. That October we welcomed an 8 week old golden retriever puppy who we named Winnie. The following September we adopted a 2 year old cat named Victoria. After 4 years of living on the Coast, we were able to find work and move to Brent’s hometown. Brent immediately started building us a home and 2 years later we moved in. That’s when we decided to bring home another furry friend, a puppy named Charlie, he is a poodle-pointer cross and best friend to Winnie. We ecstatic to grow our family through adoption and to begin the next chapter in our lives. We are very much looking forward to meeting our future son or daughter.
What we love to do…
We love to travel. Brent caught the travel bug when we met and has been itching to see new and different parts of the world ever since. Our first trip together was to San Francisco and we hope to travel there again. Since then we have traveled to the Carribean, many states in the USA, the UK as well as many parts Canada. On our trip to England, we connected with family on Brent’s side that we had never met. We both enjoyed the opportunity to know more about Brent’s heritage. We are excited to start seeing new places and traveling as a family.
We love exploring the beautiful local trails and scenery on our bikes or on hikes with our dogs. In the summer we enjoy weekend trips up the coast on the boat exploring, fishing, taking in the scenery or enjoying a good book. We truly live in a little piece of heaven. We also like to be active in our community with hockey, women’s groups as well as hosting our friends and family for get-togethers.
We both love to read. Brent is a non-fiction guru, always wanting to learn about people and places. Jacqueline loves fiction, a good story line and character development helps her connect to the book. Jacqueline belongs to a book club and enjoys discussing that month’s pick and she likes to connect with her friends.
Our family
We have pretty traditional roles in our household. Brent is always building, maintaining and creating, while Jacqueline enjoys cooking, baking and taking care of everyone. We truly have a balanced partnership and we enjoy using our talents to help our family run smoothly. Winnie, Charlie and Victoria play their important roles of loving and entertaining everyone.
Meet Jacqueline
The things that drew me to Jacqueline the day we met were her warmth and sense of fun. These traits have only gotten better since. When you look around our house or watch her with our family, friends or her students you can see the love and caring devotion she has for those in her life. It’s exciting to come home and see what she’s been up to or has in store for us. Her patience and the way she can make all the routine parts of life stand still and wait so she can savour her time with those she cares about will make her a great mom. I can’t wait to see our child grow with us and enjoy all the ways this woman is going to be an amazing Mom!
Meet Brent
Brent is the hardest working person I will ever know. He has built us such an amazing life, with a new home and a beautiful place to live. He loves showing our friends and family the beautiful trails, beaches, waterfalls and mountains in our area. He truly has a love for knowledge and learning how things work. I can see him building beach forts, playing catch and taking cars apart to rebuild them with our child(ren). Not only is he dedicated to his family but Brent always wants to make sure the people closest to him are well cared for. He shows his love everyday with the fun activities he plans for us and the way he ties our interests into the things we do. I can’t wait to live the adventures of parenthood with Brent because I know that he was made for it.
Meet the rest of the crew
Jacqueline has two sisters and two brothers. Jacqueline is the youngest in her family. Her family is very close and they enjoy celebrating their French and Ukrainian customs together. All of her siblings, her dad and herself speak French. Her nieces and nephews are active in hockey, lacrosse, curling, Ukrainian dance, singing, playing piano and basketball.
Brent has two sisters. They live within 10km of each other and get together frequently for family events. His niece is very active in dance, baseball, skating and enjoys keeping the whole family entertained. His nephew who was born in June, fills the family with snuggles and fun smiles. It’s awesome to see this little guy change every day.
Our child will be joining many cousins! Between the two of us we have 15 nieces and nephews (both birth and adoptive). Our child will grow up with a big family around them.
Our Vision for our Family and Openness
Our home is built on rich tradition and connection to our families. Feeling connected is important to both of us and we feel it will make connecting to our child’s birth family at any level a natural part of our lives. We are open to exploring any level of openness that our child’s birth family requests and look forward to working together in any shape or form.
We also both value education and want to promote and encourage our child to explore any path they choose, whether University or College programs. We want our child to see the world and to take all the opportunities available to them.
Most of all we already love our child more than anything. We are both ready to fully give ourselves to them and commit to raising them in a loving, supportive and inclusive home.
