the Christmas letter

Our family Christmas card. 

You're welcome. :)

Welcome to our life in 2013 that we like to pretend is exciting enough to document in a Christmas card...

We'll get the fiesta started with Jake the patriarch of the clan. In his ample spare time, Jake enjoys laying on the ground while Rhett jumps on him and Rad drools in his hair, preparing dinner nightly no earlier than 9PM because his wife still can't pull it together to cook dinner, receiving hourly text messages from said wife regarding his children's ridiculous behavior, and looking up lists of random facts to share  with said wife while she tries to fall asleep at night. His biggest accomplishments this year has been getting to work before 9AM, running 3 evenings a week, and convincing Rhett that he (Jake) is the real Captain America.  He recently won the prestigious  “You Somehow Have Patience and Optimism  When You Have Young Children” award for having the most patience for always coming home cheerfully to his wife in sweats and his children naked and the most optimism in thinking the children will one day be able to wipe their own bums. (This award was given to him by his wife.) Jake really is an amazing father/husband who makes the Miller family 1000 times cooler.

Julia enjoys writing in the third person. She likes the boys nap time long and her Hulu (semi) trashy. She is a serial cell phone photo taker. Forgive her. She feels a lot of validation for her motherhood by how many Likes pictures of her kids get on FB. She is always on the hunt for some quiet, sanity, and some sort of candy snack. Oh and a good DIY project to instruct her husband to complete. She got a job teaching dance/tumbling for little kids at the YMCA and feels very accomplished that she relearned to do a semi straight handstand. Rhett loves her best because she tolerates his favorite game of wrestling and trying to lick her and Rad loves her best because, well he just does. When Julia walks into the room and does not immediately go to greet or hold Rad, he will promptly freak the freak out of freak out. If anyone ever tells you that having the husband's job be commission only, "isn't that bad" you go ahead and send them to Julia. She'll set them straight. Or ask for $20.

Rhett is a three-year-old toddler/supper hero/future pro wrestler. He currently narrates everything, never misses a chance to ask a stranger their name, routinely sneaks off to remove all his clothing, and is very serious about Rad not touching his eyes. He started preschool this year and despite many lessons there and at the kitchen table still thinks the letter A is the letter P. He loves to look up baby animals on the computer and also the human anatomy. He is blissfully unaware of directions still and asking him to pick up the toy behind him means he looks to the ceiling, through is legs, in the fridge and pretty much anywhere other than behind him. His favorite food is anything related to a cracker and he is the most obstinate and sensitive soul on the face of the planet.

Rad is a 9 month-old/snuggler (needy)/tank. He prefers to be carried over exerting too much effort on his part, unless that effort is high pitched, shrill shrieking, then he will gladly exert effort till the cows come home. He eats more than should be possible, especially since he has no teeth, and finds everything hysterically funny. Like his brother his favorite position is standing with a heavy dose of jumping. The highlight of his year is discovering if he shrieks loud enough his mom will give him a lollipop, followed closely by being born.

Some highlights of the year included:

• Buying our first house and Jake being awesome and spending hours laying wood floors followed by hours of cleaning up wood glue.

• Julia going to court to argue a speeding ticket she got on the way to the emergency C section. (She felt it validated all the episodes of Law and Order she's watched.)

• Rhett becoming a mini BMX biker and taking on some (relative for a 3 year old) intense dirt trails and hills near our house on his push bike. Julia and Jake are hoping for a continuation of no broken bones in 2014 and feel blessed that Rhett has made it this far with no injuries.

• Rad actually being born completely heathy despite testing positive for Down Syndrome and a heart defect and officially being the most expensive person in the Miller household for 2013. 

• Jake working really hard and getting recognition from his company and recognition from his wife that they are one year closer to retirement.

• Julia getting asked to be a tour guide for the Gilbert Temple open house in January and to help plan the cultural celebration for the 12,000 youth who will be participating.

• Rhett's imagination exploding into amazingness that leaves Jake and Julia rolling in laughter. (Mom, Dad I'm a pygmy marmoset!)

• Rad learning to roll and scoot and sit and hold his bottle after working his little tuchas off in physical therapy. Oh and he got a helmet to help his flat head. #mostexpensivekidever We're still waiting for him to crawl. Hopefully we can include that in the 2014 letter...

Happy holidays!! Thanks for being our friends! (And liking Julia's pictures on FB. She appreciates it.)