Hello from Ottawa, Canada! We are Alicia and Xavier. We appreciate you taking the time to learn about us and are grateful that you exist. We may never meet in person and your journey may lead to other families and/or avenues but most importantly you should know we only wish and pray for great and wonderful things for you and your child. We promise to love and share joy with your child, and give them a safe home full of happiness. We have chosen adoption as our first path to becoming parents, but plan to have more children biologically or again through adoption.

We met in beautiful Nova Scotia, Canada at the Apple Blossom Festival. Alicia had just started working in Xavier’s hometown Kentville, and Xavier was back for a few months from university. We met that day, shared a connection and then didn’t see each other for 1 1/2 years later until we connected again through friends. Even 1 1/2 years later, Alicia remembered liking Xavier’s name and how he was named after the university his family all went to, and Xavier remembered he liked Alicia.

Now 8 years later, we have moved to another province, have a home, are married, have a dog Max and a pretty wonderful life with lots of friends and family. We love this stage of our life, however, we know the next chapter of our life will be even more amazing.

I was first introduced to adoption when I was a little girl and remember being so interested. My family views adoption and loving children as such a positive thing and since that first exposure I have researched and learned more about it. Early in our relationship I brought up adoption and Xavier was extremely open to having a family this way and even shared that he had cousins who were adopted. So when we got married we made the decision to have adoption be our first choice.

We have many interests, including our love for the outdoors, traveling, and being active.

From sporting events to music concerts/museums we love to explore, try new things and take in new experiences.

We have both been involved in organized sports, camps and music lessons growing up and for our future children we are excited to expose them to extracurricular activities hoping to find their interest.

From soccer or hockey to veterinarian camps or taking piano lessons, we want our children to be enriched in opportunities to learn and grow into well rounded individuals.

I work at the Women’s Breast Centre in Mammography and Breast Ultrasound. I chose this profession because I always wanted to help people. I also have been volunteering with Rad-AID for 4 years focusing on breast imaging. In 2018 I went to Ethiopia and have now been working with Georgetown Hospital in Guyana. I love helping women all over the world.

I work on a casual basis now to have a flexible work/life balance.

Alicia is the most genuine and caring person I know. From the love she has for her family, to how she is always willing to go out of her way to help someone in need such as a friend, family member, colleague or someone she may not know at all. Alicia has a keen interest in being involved in humanitarian work and traveling locally or abroad to help people in need, such as a trip she did a few years ago to Ethiopia. One of things I love about Alicia is that she has many interests and wants to continue learning and educating herself about history, cultures, and her line of work in healthcare. She loves reading, writing, singing, exercising and especially people. Her funny, friendly personality draws people to her and especially when she interacts with children. She has an ability with children where they feel comfortable and safe with her immediately. I’m so excited to see Alicia become the amazing mother I know she will be.

I grew up playing many sports and luckily found a career that allows me to coach and motivate others, while bringing out my competitive nature. I work as a Partner for an Information Technology company and have been fortunate to find a great company that provides a lot of work flexibility where I can frequently work from home.

In my spare time I love walking our dog, being with friends, coaching hockey and relaxing with Alicia.

Xavier is a man of action. I love how he has many interests and is so likeable. I remember being drawn to how accepting Xavier was, easy going, calm and how he had so many friends. He comes into a room with quiet confidence, and I’ve always liked that. Xavier loves sports, all sports. Hockey, golf, football and basketball I would say are his favorites, however I have seen him get into tennis, soccer and even try Australian football. He also loves playing the guitar and loves live music. I can’t wait to see Xavier as a Dad. He loves sharing and encouraging people and especially kids in their interests. He takes such good care of the people he loves. I know that our children will have a Dad that will be present at every recital, game and practice! Xavier doesn’t give up and will give everything of himself to support his children in whatever journey they choose.

Ottawa is such a great size city being the Capital of Canada, it has many museums, parks, and events.

Ottawa is about 1 hour from NY state. It has national parks all around for hiking, biking and walking dogs. We live in a quiet subdivision with friendly neighbors, and a location that offers only walking distance to our choice of schools with both French immersion and English. We live within 5 minutes of a Sportsplex that offers basketball, hockey, soccer, and many more activities and a quick drive to the downtown core, where the museums and National Art Center are.

We love that you can buy family passes to the national parks and the museums which are great for children. Our second home is on the East Coast of Canada in Prince Edward Island (PEI) and Nova Scotia (N.S). Alicia’s family has a family farm/cottage right on the ocean in PEI with our own private beach over-looking the water. Xavier’s family has over 200 acres which includes a fishing pond and a cozy cabin. From canoeing, fishing, to picking seashells, we love spending our vacations here.

On both sides, we have big families and even bigger friend base. We both grew up with many cousins and relatives close to one another.

Xavier’s Family: I grew up as an only child making me much closer to my cousins who lived close by, and all have young children now. My parents have been such a strong aspect of support in my life then and now. My mom was a primary teacher, and my dad was my music teacher and basketball coach. My parents and I have always been so close. My childhood friends, and friends in adulthood have been very supportive and excited about our adoption journey.

Xavier has several cousins who have been adopted and we have been blessed with incredible family and a diverse background of friends who are excited to share the joy of our future family through adoption.

Alicia’s Family: Alicia grew up with an older sister and younger brother. Her parents are very practical in their support for her from her Dad helping with home renovations and her mom already sewing her future grandbabies baby quilt. They are extremely excited about their future grandchild.

We both grew up in Christian homes and have had faith as a core value growing up. We have found that a personal relationship with God and our belief system is something we want to incorporate in our home and share with our future children.

We want our children to understand how precious they are to God and see a practical representation of his love in our home. This is something we feel is so important for you to know about us as it is something that shapes who we are.

Max is our 3 year old Irish Setter. He is a bottle of energy and keeps us always entertained. He loves everyone, is very good with kids and particularly loves playing with other dogs. He loves going for walks and runs in snow, rain, or shine and can never get enough food. We may be biased but we think he is the best dog ever!

We want to be able to give our future children the same or more opportunities than our own parents gave us by learning from each set of parents and taking the best of both!

We feel so blessed you took the time and wanted to learn more about us, so thank you. We also want to learn more about you; what are your goals and dreams? What makes you unique from everyone else? We know that one of you are reading this and considering choosing us as your child’s future family. That’s huge and so special to us. We can’t wait to share more about who we are and describe the home we are planning for our family along with the dreams and commitments we have made to each other and to you. We want you to know that as we have followed our hearts to our path for adoption and we hope you follow your heart and listen to the path you feel is right for you and your child.

Sending lots of love and prayers from Canada and wishing only great things for your future.

Alicia and Xavier