On May 30th, Jenn and Chad tied on the knot on Pender island. We, the Kouwenberg clan, grew up going to a family friend's cottage there as kids.

The setting was beautiful, set right on the ocean.

The dogs even had a good time...

I recently participated in a friendly polo tournament at Willow Creek Polo Club. The club is located in Elizabeth, CO, approx 40mins from our house.

This is Yoda, a very patient polo horse.

Tyler has been taking some mt biking courses in Boulder, Co. and I was able to go along for one of the 3 trips in June.
Yes, we still own a 2 person tent and yes there were 2 large dogs and 2 people in the tent...and yes we spent 2 nights in these accommodations.



We hiked in 2 miles to a campsite for the weekend...nature's hotel.






Sue Wall, a wonderful friend from Sk, was able to visit this spring. We had a great time and I miss her dearly. She and her husband Chris are living in Australia for 10+ mths this next year. Perhaps after all this time I'll get to travel back to Oz to visit...

More recently I find myself working at the zoo with elephants and zebras...

Sheila and Ernie drove down from SK and spent some time with us during the winter. We enjoyed trips to Leadville and Monarch.


My mom, Colleen, came for a visit on school spring break. We enjoyed her time here and appreciated her sewing skills in making the dress for Jenn's upcoming wedding.

Another trip to Leadville with the doggies.

I found myself on call the other weekend suturing up a nifty facial laceration that was down to the bone, good times! Actually suturing is one of my favourite things.

A couple of action shots of Jasper and Bayou. Where Jasper is...Bayou follows and copies.

A new member was recently added to the Birkham family....a second dog! We made the 10hr return trip to Rifle in northwestern Colorado. Joanna has wanted a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog for some time and so we researched several breeders in Colorado and Texas. We ended up choosing Bayou, an 8wk old, male, blue leopard with tan tips. Quite the character!

Tosco and Joanna, pic for the clinic web page.

Jasper after an afternoon on the trails.





Travelled north west of Peyton, CO to Leadville for a weekend of cross-country skiing. There is a 12 mile loop through the small old mining town of Leadville. Lots of historic mine shafts and cabins throughout the trail. Plus the necessary component to skiing of any sort...more snow than where we live in Peyton.

Chad (the bridgegroom...Jenn's husband to be) and Tyler tried their legs at snowboarding at Cypress during our visit to the coast. Lots of laughs and collisions.

Jenn and Chad



Johnny and Chad




Another day at Cypress another activity to enjoy! Jonathan, Jenn, Chad, Tyler, Gabriel and I went snow shoeing for several hours.

Jonathan gave Tyler and I a great tour of the ship he is currently the combat officer on, The HMCS Winnipeg.

On our recent trip to Canada, we had the opportunity to visit with Jonathan and cause some damage to his new house in Victoria! He is renovating the front suite...which currently contains the bare essentials...including a hole in the floor for a toliet...wax plug anyone? Note the inner contents of the house spewed out on the deck...

Tyler on one of his hikes with the Colorado Mt club. This hike was located west of Monument, at Mt. Herman. Since then he has purchased a fancy pair of orange snow shoes and will be seen miles away on the trails.


They met a guy on the trail that uses goats to pack his equipment in on multi-day trips. Quite practical as they also forage for their food so no need to bring supplies for them. I would imagine they could be entertaining as well.

West of Co springs on a walk.

The inside of our house in CO. Actually took the pics for an application for a German Short haired pointer rescue puppy. Funny thing...cause Tyler won't be home for the next 2yrs we got denied.