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.
Jenn with M.U.S.H.E.R.S. clients from Renaissance Academy
Zip lining through the Dominican jungle
Jenn leading a group of dog-sledders
Jenn with some M.U.S.H.E.R.S. clients, feeding 2 Black-belly sheep
Jenn dog-sledding with Rebecca
At the age of 16, Jennifer began her post-secondary studies at Laurentian University, becoming their youngest student ever at that time. After completing her 4 year Bachelor of Psychology degree in only three years, she turned her attention to her dog-sled hobby.
Jennifer became the youngest ever recipient of a $50,000 start-up loan from FedNor (A Canadian government loan program). This allowed her to open up M.U.S.H.E.R.S. Dog-Sled Tours (Making Unique Siberian Husky Experiences Running Sleds). The 5 year goals of 80% occupancy were achieved in year two. By year three her occupancy rate had exceeded 100% and she had a one year wait list for tours. This wait list continued until she sold the business.
M.U.S.H.E.R.S. Dog-Sled Tours was ranked in the top ten things to do in the Sudbury region 5 years straight by Sudbury Tourism, with the last 3 years being the number one winter activity. Satisfaction surveys were over 99% positive, with only having 2 complaints in 5 years.
The heavy physical demands of dog-sledding had the unfortunate side-effects of triggering complications from her horse accident years earlier. With a heavy heart, Jennifer sold the business in 2014.
In 2013, Jennifer spent her summer working road construction, where she met her now husband, Denis.
After leaving MUSHERS in 2014, Jennifer worked in a private school where she quickly rose to become the principal, a title which she held until leaving her position to have her daughter late 2016.
In September 2016, Jennifer and Denis celebrated the birth of their beautiful daughter, Annabelle.
After many years of improving her lifestyle to be more health-focused, Jennifer decided it was time to make it official and be able to help others. While staying at home and raising her infant daughter, she studied different aspects of nutrition under the School of Natural Health Sciences and earned herself seven diplomas in health and nutrition. Her new business, Healthy Living With Jenn, helps people with nutrition and lifestyle choices to obtain better health, and a happier life.
Credentials
Degree - Bachelor of Arts Psychology, Laurentian University
Diploma - Advanced Nutrition, The School of Natural Health Sciences
Diploma - Child & Adolescent Nutrition, The School of Natural Health Sciences
Diploma - Ethical & Sustainable Eating, The School of Natural Health Sciences
Diploma - Exercise for Health & Wellness, The School of Natural Health Sciences
Diploma - Holistic Nutrition, The School of Natural Health Sciences
Diploma - Nutrition for Age 50 Plus, The School of Natural Health Sciences
Diploma - Vegetarian & Vegan Nutrition, The School of Natural Health Sciences
In The News
2006-06-15 Bear Article, Sudbury Star
2010-05-08 M.U.S.H.E.R.S. on CBC Radio
Marcus Schwabe hosts a morning show CBC Radio and had a section each week on young entrepeneurs. Jennifer's season had ended so they delayed her interview until the following winter. At that time, he had cancelled his young entrepeneur section. However he was so impressed with Jennifer that he interviewed her for a special on his morning show.
2010-06-16 Sudbury News - Husky sled dogs up close and personal
Sudbury - Students from Chelmsford Public School got an up close look at Siberian Husky sled dogs when Jennifer Crawford, owner of M.U.S.H.E.R.S., brought Kaila and Greenie - two members of her sled dog team.
Here is a video produced by WowTV, an Chinese TV network in Toronto. In it they interview Jennifer about MUSHERS. The quality of the video is not great, as the person who recorded it and posted in to Youtube did not do a great job. The hosts spoke in Chinese, and interpreted Jennifer's dialogue.
2019-03 Meet The Jodouins - Adopting Healthy Change in Springwater, Springwater Neighbours
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's, is a developmental disorder in the Autism spectrum that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests.
People with Asperger syndrome see, hear and feel the world differently to other people. If you have Asperger syndrome, you have it for life – it is not an illness or disease and cannot be ‘cured’. Often people feel that Asperger syndrome is a fundamental aspect of their identity.
Autism is a spectrum condition. All autistic people share certain difficulties, but being autistic will affect them in different ways. Some people with Asperger syndrome also have mental health issues or other conditions, meaning people need different levels and types of support.
People with Asperger syndrome are of average or above average intelligence. They don't have the learning disabilities that many autistic people have, but they may have specific learning difficulties. They have fewer problems with speech but may still have difficulties with understanding and processing language.
We have three diagnosed cases of Asperger's in the family, and a forth case that, while not officially diagnosed, is believed to exist.
Raising children with Apserger's is tough, and growing up with Apserger's is even tougher.
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