Ella's ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Ella was challenged to take the ALS ice bucket challenge yesterday.  She took a bucket full of super cold ice water this afternoon and has challenged her friend Elise.


I was also challenged yesterday but have decided to forego the ice bath and instead will be donating money to several charities.  It's not that ALS is not a worthy cause or people should not worry about it.  We have known so many people that have had to fight or learn to live with terrible, debilitating diseases.  We would rather donate to several causes and try to help people we personally know that are learning to cope in an unfair world.

ALSA - I will help support raising more money for this cause that has received tremendous awareness through their ice bucket challenge.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society - To honor Jamie Reynold's mother who has been fighting MS for many, many year.

To honor Ashton Whalen, the daughter of our good friends in Florida, the Whalens.  Ashton has been battling Leukemia for several years now, we will donate to the charity of Ashton's choosing.

The newest member of our family, Olaf

We have added another member to our Canadian family.  We couldn't resist a new puppy whom we named Olaf.  He is a white Miniature Schnauzer, that we got here in Quebec.  There is some controversy over the white versions of this breed.  The American and Canadian branches will not recognize it as an official version of the breed, though after genetic testing most other countries do now recognize it as an official color.

We were torn between naming him Olaf after the snowman in Frozen, or Blitz which was sort for Blizzard.  Ultimately, Sarah and the kids won and his name stuck as Olaf.  He's pretty much the greatest puppy ever.




Night Photography

On my last couple of business trips to San Francisco and Edmonton I was able to get out at night and take some photos of the city, the Golden Gate bridge, and the Milky Way Galaxy on a nice clear night.  Hope to get out and take some photos of Montreal here shortly to add to the collection.

The Golden Gate looking into San Francisco
The view of San Francisco from Twin Peaks
Just a random path near my hotel in San Francisco.  The long exposure brought out a pretty cool look.
The Milky Way in the middle of nowhere in Alberta, Canada