Thank you for taking the time to review our family profile. We hope you find the information we have provided helpful in your search for the right family. We can only imagine what a difficult decision this is for you and we are happy to answer any questions you may have.
We are an active family of six living on the beautiful North Shore of Vancouver, BC 😊
About Callum (Dad):
Callum is a doctor whose practice deals predominantly with patients struggling with addiction and mental health issues. He is a compassionate caregiver who cares greatly for his patients. He is well respected by his peers and patients and is grateful to be in a career where he can help others.
In his earlier years, Callum grew up in the quiet town of Winfield on Lake Okanagan. The summers were spent playing on the lake with his twin Jason and older brother Cameron.
After high school, Callum went to UBC and then McGill University. He did an extensive amount of travel which included living in Panama while working on a malnutrition study and living in Japan where he taught skiing during the Nagano Olympics. He also travelled to France to study the language and sailed in the South Pacific with his brother for three months.
About Alexa (Mom):
Alexa is now a stay at home mother but studied at the London School of Economics obtaining a Master’s Degree in Global Media and Communications. Unfortunately, in her second year of university, Alexa’s father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. When she found out, she moved back from England to be with him.
When she was 6 years old, her father (a university professor at the University of British Columbia) took a sabbatical and her family moved to Europe and drove across the continent. In her early twenties she spent six months travelling in South East Asia and hiking in Nepal. On other excursions she visited India and traveled through Argentina and Paraguay.
She has been very successful following in her father’s footsteps working in the real estate marketing and development industry. During her career, she was the recipient of the YWCA Women of Distinction Award and the Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40 Award.
This is Us (Callum):
I met Alexa in our late twenty’s when I was applying to medical school. I had just returned from a volunteer position in Guinea, West Africa, where I lived for one year working for a non-profit organization called Right to Play. At that time, Alexa was working as the Vice President for a large development company. Despite our busy schedules over those next few years, we managed to find opportunities to backpack together in Senegal, Turkey and parts of Europe. We both share the same sense of adventure (and humour) and we love meeting new people and experiencing new cultures.
We were married in an intimate ceremony on the lake at my parents’ home in Lake Country, BC. For our honeymoon, we packed up our bikes and drove along the Oregon coast to San Francisco in Alexa’s grandparents’ Chevy Van. Soon after our return, we were thrilled to find out Alexa was pregnant with our twins, Tatum and Roen! Their arrival changed our lives forever.
The next 6 years were a whirlwind for our family. After maternity leave, Alexa returned to work at her company while I was working hard to finish medical school. During this time, we moved 5 times (as our family continued to grow) and we had two boys just 16 months apart, Asher and Beckham. After Beckham was born and I graduated medical school, Alexa was able to step back from her career to be at home with the children.
Life was so challenging during these years, but we realized how strong we were as a couple. We try to never sweat the small stuff and we live life to the fullest. We travel and take breaks from life in the city. We are fortunate to be able to ski in Whistler during the winter and move to the Okanagan for July and August so the kids can run free and have an unstructured summer filled with fishing, boating and watersports.
Alexa is an unbelievable mom. She is kind, hard working, compassionate and unconditionally loving. She is an active volunteer at the children’s school and has worked for many non-profit organisations including the Canadian Cancer Society, Family Services of the North Shore and Union Gospel Mission.
Maintaining our health and leading an active lifestyle is very important, to both Alexa and I. Alexa loves running and has completed the Vancouver Marathon and I can often be found on the Grouse Grind before work. We have a huge vegetable garden in the backyard where the kids grow tomatoes, lettuce, kale, rhubarb and much more. The kids love picking fresh rhubarb to bake their Nonna’s famous rhubarb crisp recipe. Tatum is an exceptional little baker and she can often be found in the kitchen teaching her brothers how to make chocolate zucchini bread and cookies from scratch.
Our home is a restored character house with a big backyard for the kids to play in. We live a 10 minute drive from downtown Vancouver in a beautiful family neighborhood just a few blocks from the beach.
Family (by Alexa):
We are so lucky to have the families that we do; they are supportive, loving and kind. I am very close with my sister Erika, who lives a few blocks away with her son Atticus, daughter Cassia and husband Alex. Three of my cousins (and their 7 children) live nearby as well, making for very fun (and loud) family get togethers! My mother, aunt and grandmother are a huge part of our children’s lives and are often at our house for Sunday night dinners.
My mother was a refugee from Italy and immigrated by boat to Canada with her family in 1957. Callum’s parents were immigrants from England who also moved to Canada to start a new life. We were both raised in families that had very modest beginnings and who worked hard to create a life and successful businesses in Canada. As such, we are both big believers in a grounded upbringing for our children.
Callum’s parents, two brothers, their children and extended family all live up in the Okanagan. His parents live in Lake Country a few hours drive from our cottage on Lake Osoyoos. We see them often in the summertime, and there is nothing better than visiting Nana and Poppa’s lake house!
Our Children:
Our biggest achievement in life is our four children. They are four of the funniest, most loving and interesting kids you will ever meet.
Roen, our eldest, has been designing clothes and sewing since he was four years old. He makes awesome clothes for himself and has even made a dress for me to wear to our annual mother/son dance.
Tatum, his twin sister, is very passionate about soccer, and plays on the select team for the age group. Her younger brother Asher is following in her footsteps and is also an avid soccer player. All the kids play tennis, swim and are amazing little skiers. But their favorite activity by far is to race around the lake behind the boat on the tube!
We have opted to send the kids to public French school so they will have the opportunity to learn a second language. We hope this will serve them well in life and future travel. We believe introducing the children to new cultures and experiences is the best knowledge they will ever obtain. We have traveled as a family to Europe, the US, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and next summer we had planned a trip to Africa to take the kids on a safari with their grandparents and cousins. This will sadly be delayed due to Covid. Currently I am homeschooling the kids while the Coronavirus pandemic continues.
WHY WE ARE HOPEFUL TO ADOPT:
Adoption is something we have both dreamed of since getting married. We would be honoured to help a birth mother who is making one of the most important and difficult decisions of her life. We would do everything in our power to ensure your baby would be unconditionally loved, cared for, and supported. We would make sure they were well educated, they would travel and would always have a safe place to call home. They will have four siblings that would adore them, teach them new things, and grow with them.
We have waited to adopt until we were in the right place financially and emotionally. With our youngest Beckham entering Kindergarten this year, we will be able to give a new baby the full attention that they need and deserve. Our children are beyond excited at the prospect of adopting a little brother or sister.
We are experienced parents who know exactly what we are getting ourselves into in taking this step.
Lastly, if you are looking for an open adoption, this is something we would be supportive of. We would be your child’s adoptive parents, but you will always be their birth parents. Lastly, we would be welcome to an adoption from anywhere across Canada or internationally.
Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and considering us to be a part of your life.
