Counting to 10

Brinley can count to 10, sometimes a little higher. Such a smart little girl.

Counting to 10 from Kelli Jones on Vimeo.

Fun at home

Brinley loves playing with her daddy. Her new discovery is to ride on his back. So cute.













We have some pretty lights in a large group of trees near our apartment so we bundled up to go look at them. I think Brinley was the warmest of us all. She has on 2 sweaters, a scarf, a hat, sweats, pants, boots, and her coat. She was adorable waddling around with all of those layers on.

 Also, her new favorite toy, Kissing Elmo.

Making Gingerbread Houses

Brinley has a really good friend that she loves to play with. She gets so excited when she sees him. She will randomly just call out his name, even if he isn't there. During their playdate last week they made gingerbread houses. They didn't hold up very well, but they had a lot of fun making them, and eating the candy.

Halloween

This Halloween we decided Brinley was old enough to go trick or treating. We just went to our ward's Trunk or Treat. Brinley was adorable as Little Red Riding Hood. I went as the Grandmother and Brian was the "hunter." She didn't want to smile or hold still for the pictures, stubborn girl, so these are the best that we have. The dress was a massive tutu. Unfortunately, it wasn't the warmest of costumes and it was a freezing night, so we held her for most of it and went quickly around to all of the cars.

The Juice Joint Mystery

Some friends from Idaho who now live here.threw a 1920's Murder Mystery before Halloween. My parents came down to watch Brinley so that we could go and enjoy the evening. We had a lot of fun. I think Brian might have gotten more in character throughout the night than I did. He was a Bouncer/arms dealer, and I was a cocktail waitress. It was a fun night.
Cy Ramsey and Kitty Cocktail:

 Girls from the Chubbuck Days:

Autumn is here!!

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved fall. It is my favorite season. I absolutely love it when the trees are on fire in reds,yellows, and oranges. We took a drive up the canyon to enjoy nature during this beautiful time of year. I loved driving through the colored trees and just smelling fall.  During our drive we saw three little deer. We stopped the car right next to them and they stayed put just staring at us for a while.
After driving around for a little bit, we finally found a spot we could stop and walk around. Brinley loved being outside. She stopped and pointed out about every rock we passed. On our way down the canyon we passed a park so we stopped to let Brinley swing. They didn't have baby swings so she sat on a regular swing all by herself for the first time. She did really well. She held onto the chain tightly while we gently pushed her.
I just love the colors in these pictures! The best part of these pictures though, is that we actually caught some of Brinley's elusive smile.

Popcorn popping

Brinley loves it when we sing songs to her so she can dance. This is one of her favorites. As you can see, she knows most of the actions. It is so cute. Of course, once we finish the song she wants more and more.


popcorn popping from Kelli Jones on Vimeo.

Smile!?

It is really hard to get Brinley to smile for the camera. Instead she has adopted a scrunched face that she uses whenever we say smile. Here are some pictures of me attempting to capture her beautiful smile.

 I really like this last one. It's kind of a doe in the headlights look, but look how amazingly big and beautiful her eyes are.

As you can see, I didn't really get the smile I was looking for. I guess I will have to keep trying.

4 Year Anniversary!

We just celebrated our 4th anniversary last week. Time is a funny thing. In some ways it feels like we have been together much longer, but in others, it's hard to believe it's already been 4 years. We celebrated this wonderful occasion by going on a mini trip. My parents were great enough to come and stay over with Brinley so Brian and I could go. We spent the day at Lagoon, an amusement park, that I hadn't been to in many years. We had fun, but I think it was one of the hottest days this summer. One moment that I found particularly funny was when we were on the ferris wheel.  While at the top, overlooking the park, a teenaged girl from the pod next to us asked us if we were together. We answered that we've been married 4 years. I guess since were weren't holding hands or kissing, she needed to check. To cool off we went to the water park in the amusement park. After nearly burning the bottoms of our feet off on the hot cement, we make it from our chairs to the slides. It was pretty fun going down the tubes. It definitely helped to cool us off. After getting dressed again, we went on a few more roller coasters before calling it a day.  We stayed in a hotel, so as soon as we got there we crashed on the bed in the cool air conditioned room until we had enough energy to get ready for dinner. We ate at Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed their ribs and potatoes. In many ways this anniversary was reminiscent of our first, spent in Cincinnati doing many of the same things. It was wonderful to be able to get away, just the two of us. It was our first time leaving Brinley overnight, but she did great! She didn't cry and she even took all of her naps and went right to bed. It was a very successful and much needed anniversary trip! I look forward to many more to come.

Cousins

While we were in Idaho, my brother, his wife, and baby were visiting too. It was great to spend so much time with them. Brinley was so cute around her cousin Dylan. She would pat his head, or just get down by him and look at him. Every time he would cry she would look at us and sign and say cry. I guess she understands what that word means:) Here are some pictures of my parents only grandchildren together.