Happy Valentines, Happy Anniversary, my Love!

Valentines day is quite a special day around the Dardano household:) Fifteen years ago the Clark High School Valentines dance was our very first date, Nine years later Valentines day we were married, and now six years later we are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary! In honor of this day I would like to dedicate this post to my wonderful husband who, after all these years keeps making me more in love with him than ever! So here- in true blogger fashion- to toast to another fifteen years of wedded bliss I have fifteen reasons why I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to Mauricio Ernesto Dardano...

1. He is hot. I think it was the eyes that first got to me in ninth grade- and every other girl that wanted to date the cute el salvadorian.
2. He is the funniest guy I have ever met/ dated. Mauri makes me laugh all the time- and sometimes for no reason at all- I am laughing right now just thinking about it.
3. He is smart. He must have taken a test every day in dental school and never missed a beat. This trait also plays into his funniness. he is very witty..
4. He is playful. Mauricio is like a big kid- it keeps things interesting.
5. He is athletic. I don't think he has ever played organized soccer and he can beat me pretty easily. same with every other sport.
6. He can cook. enough said.
7. He's a good dancer.
8. He has amazing oral hygiene-actually all of his personal hygiene is pretty good.
9. He thinks of the best dates and presents.
10. He loves his boys. part of this is him being a big kid- but he loves to play and wrestle with them and to say that they LOVE this is the understatement of the century.
11. He is a good person. People like him because he is honest and kind. He genuinely loves people and would gladly make himself look stupid if it helped someone else.
12. He makes me a better person. He wont listen to me if I start to get vicious about someone.
13. He loves his family.
14. He gave me my 2 (almost 3) boys. I think he is the best father to them that I could ask for. If they get his ambition, his heart, and his looks I would be the happiest mother alive.
15. He is, has been for 15 years, and will be until I am old and gray- my best friend in the whole world.

I love you, my angel:)

and for your enjoyment I have included some pictures of us taken through the years...







Football banquet '97 Prom '98

Mount timp '99

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Pierce is three!!!

I cannot believe my little guy is three years old! He is getting bigger and smarter every day and I am starting to see what people are talking about- it really does go by fast. We celebrated at this bounce house place which was so far away it might has well have been in Oklahoma- but he had a blast so it was worth it:) I think the kids had fun- and I know the adults did...at least my crazy family. We were having obstacle course races (yes, we had to move the children, but who was this party for anyway?) with each other- Abby and Ben were dripping with sweat- then I (quite pregnant I might add) had to show Megan who was boss- then my mom and dad went head to head- and for one last race before the pizza, abby and dad had a go which almost had me wetting my pants. They were pulling each other down and laughing so hard I thought they would never finish. After the bouncing we had pizza and cake and Pierce sang happy birthday to himself with the rest of the kids..it was a fun night. It got late so we brought the presents home and he still hasn't opened them :) oops. thats our activity for tonight- it's like a weeklong celebration!! and once again these are from my terrible camera which I did not have during the candle blowing and obstacle course festivities. i will post the best ones as soon as I get my sister's pics- and boy do I have some amazing video- if I can just learn how to post it.....and don't worry, Aba- I will take more pictures of the present opening and send them asap!
Dad and Dirk...the life of the party for sure...

Happiness

For my boys, happiness is definitely having a huge bouncy ball thrown up the stairs so that it can come back down and bonk one of them on the head. It is a new game that my husband started and it could keep them occupied for hours- and yes, it looks like they are once again in pajamas/just a diaper.

We had a fun ice day last week when Mauri couldn't go to work in the morning. We got them suited up and we slipped around outside for a little while. Cash really seemed to enjoy his mittens and his hat. After we came in it took us 30 minutes to get his hat off...no such luck with the mittens. Those had to stay on for the remainder of the day- which was a joyful thing for me because he could not play with his toys or pick up his cup- but would not stand for the removal of his mittens. Happy day.