Peter's Wedding and other Happenings

Here are Peter and Liz during their rehearsal.

There is a phenomenon in our neighborhood that I like to call "Grand Theft Shopping Cart." The area is littered with these shopping carts, most of which are well over a mile from their home. I hope to compile more of these and have an ongoing GTSC series.

These guys were having fun in all the new snow. They are standing on a "fort" which they are very proud of.

Jane planted some cosmos this summer. Here is one right before they all died this fall.

And, of course, Ruby. Also, her cousin Jill, who we are very glad to have in the family.

Our Growing Baby

She's been 4 months old for a few weeks now and she's growing up so quickly! She can roll from her front to her back, AND from her back to her front! This was very exciting for her parents. She can also grab her feet! She is becoming more and more interactive. She seldom can get through the day without one of her parents inducing a giggle fit. And why wouldn't they? Have you heard her laugh?

Red Riding Hood contemplates life's deeper meanings.

Sometimes she gets a wee bit freaked out when you set her down and walk away. Too bad her parents just think it's cute.

But she gets pretty happy when they come back.

Ruby is a very attentive observer in the kitchen.

She can now grab onto the little critters on her mobile as they pass by. Sometimes she whacks them with her foot.

HDR Photography

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range photography. The above image of The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in Spokane is a combination of 5 different exposures. I had one middle-exposed photo and then an exposure was taken 2 stops up and 2 stops down. There are ways to combine them manually using Photoshop or GIMP, but to get the above effect I used a free software called HDRtist. It takes the different exposures and combines using it's own tone-mapping algorithms. The result is this sort of surreal, painting-like effect. I wish I had more control of some of the parameters, but hey, it does it for free.

This image is just a block from our home. These are some condos and townhouses in the new Kendall Yards development. They are building at lightning speed!

This is the US Post Office in downtown Spokane. I believe it just celebrated it's 100th birthday (although I'm sure it was never properly born).

This is an apartment building on Riverside in Spokane.

Ruby Has a New Hat!

Jane made this fantastic hat for Ruby. She loves it!

Her favorite gourd.

Tummy Time.

Her Johnny Jumper.

She loves bath time.

This is Ruby's first time meeting her Great Grandma Doornink.

So Precious

Hi Everybody!

More Cute Baby Photos!

She doesn't mind having two chins, for now.

Big stretch.

Yes, she goes on the potty.

"Hey dad, do you mind passing me that newspaper over there? Thanks!"

Just can't go on...

So fresh and clean...

Chillin' in her personal tub...

Great Granny Boothman

"How do you like my new outfit Boothgrandma?"

"I like it too!"

A Baby in a Bumbo

Here are some more photos of our precious daughter, Ruby.

Rocking a doo rag.

Thanks to her Bumbo, Ruby can sit upright and yawn while this clever device does most of the work.

This is not a yawn.

Stretching Baby.

Snoozing in the car seat.

More Photos Of Ruby

More Ruby

I'll start with the update:

Jane and I are back home. We ended up staying 3 days in the hospital. Jane had lost a lot of blood after the delivery and the doctor decided to order a blood transfusion. It was actually pretty nice to stay in the hospital where people bring food to my wife and help her get up whenever she needs it. My parents both work at Deaconess, so it was nice to have them able to easily pay us visits. Jane's family come up also to see their first niece/grandchild. Our church has also been great by providing us with meals every night since we've been back. What a blessing!

Now for more pictures:

Here's Ruby Roxanne.

Grandpa Gross.

Grandma Gross.

Aunt Nicole.

Aunt Charity and Uncle Noah. Noah is the first in his kindergarten class to be an uncle.

Aunt Emily.

Aunt Trudy.

Aunt Christiana.

Auntie Anne.

Aunt Mercy.

Uncle Tim and Aunt Hilary. You guys are next!

Can you see the family resemblance?

Uncle Peter.

The Boothgrandmama.

Baby feet.

Looking cute. Thanks Uncle Dan and Aunt Sue for the wonderful car seat!

Granddad Boothman.

She already likes to listen to music.

It's good to be home.

Aren't they both so pretty?

Aren't they?