David and Charlena met in 1985 at West End Alternative high school in Toronto, Canada. They fell in love and a year later moved in together. March 2021 celebrates their 34 year living together.
They raised and home-schooled 4 children of their own.
- Jennifer, born in 1989, is married to Denis Joduoin, and has a beautiful daughter, Annabelle.
- Benjamin, born in 1991, is engaged to his long-term girlfriend with Michelle Cyr. They will be getting married in August 2021. He is a social service worker for children with developmental delays.
- Kyle, born is 1992, has always been our most active child. He is a professional scuba-diver and is currently finishing his Yachtmaster license to become a ship's Captain.
- Rebecca, born in 1995, is a university student working on her doctorate to become a psychologist.
Over the years they had numerous other children living with them and raised them all in an enviroment of love, tolerance, and support.
In 2001, they moved from Toronto to a Northern Ontario farm. They embraced Canadian winters by dog sledding and offering dog sled tours to others. The family kennel consisted of up to 40 Siberian Husky dogs, all of whom were rescued. They also lived a farm life, having up to 200 farm animals at their homestead. All of the farm animals were raised in their natural environments and not caged or penned.
Over the years, they have been hosting children of all ages and from different cultural backgrounds. They have hosted 4+ children at a time and can accommodate for the different learning styles and strategies that parents look for in a well rounded educational program.
In 2015 having 4 adult children and an empty nest, they decided to embark on a lifelong goal of travelling. They traveled the Caribbean by sailboat with with Kyle and Rebecca who decided to join the adventure, and Cedar, their Standard Poodle.
Since then they have travelled to a dozen countries on three continents, and lived in a half dozen countries.