Our Honeymoon, an FHE activity (and cute donkeys)

We decided for our very first official family home evening to share a few photos and stories from our just completed honeymoon--or as they say in beautiful Bayahibe, Dominican Republic, nuestra luna de miel.

Our story begins properly: we arrived late Saturday, and so much of Sunday was spent just exploring the beautiful area. In photo 1, we are discovering a beautiful thing: sunny, tropical beaches that aren't overcrowded. Already in heaven.



The beaches were beautiful, the sand soft and white, the water clear and perfectly temperatured, the palm trees swayey, and the company ideal. It was the perfect place to recover from weeks and weeks of crazy wedding planning. We decided to minimize adventure in favor of maximizing relaxation.

In fact, the most adventurous we got was probably a day trip to Saona Island, off the coast of the Dominican Republic. We traveled with a bunch of Italians--in fact, Italians dominated the resort in general--and had a few fun stops along the way. These first two pictures show us enjoying the more secluded and quiet nature of Saona.



Our trip to Saona included a stop at a sand bar--a section of the sea that is very shallow and therefore very beautiful and turquoise. On the sand bar, we could walk for a long distance in knee-to-thigh deep water.

The other big adventure of our honeymoon was horseback riding. We went on a 1.5 hour trip through the town of Bayahibe. On the way back our guide took us along the beach. We also had a new friend accompany us--a little donkey. "Oh look, a cute donkey!" Michelle said.



If Michelle's posture is indicating fear in the photo on top, it's because the donkey fell in love with her horse. The donkey would not leave her horse alone! The feeling was not mutual and the horse and donkey got into a bit of a tiff. The donkey kicked the horse Michelle was on in the face and in the process, the donkey kicked Michelle in the leg. Fortunately, Michelle was not seriously hurt; just a small scrape and a little bruising and an awesome story to tell.

The first resort amenity we tried out on Monday was catamaran sailing lessons. We immediately fell in love with sailing the catamaran and after the lesson, we were able to take the catamaran out by ourselves, which we preceded to do every day. We also tried windsurfing, kayaking, and tennis. Our catamaran instructor told Matt that he was the "capitan" of our boat, to which Michelle thought "yo no soy marinero, yo no soy marinero, soy capitan, soy capitan" from Richie Valens' La Bamba. Poor, illusioned Michelle ;) Actually, very happy, relaxed Michelle--and Matt.



Aside from the catamaraning, we spent most of our days swimming, resting, reading, and doing crossword puzzles. This is a picture of us at our favorite beach at the resort.



Another thing we loved about our honeymoon was that the resort we stayed at had several bars that made yummy drinks. We'd just walk up whenever the urge struck us and since the resort is all-inclusive we did not feel bad about returning often. "Dos pina coladas por favor--no rhum."



All in all, it is a honeymoon that we will look back on with fondness. We had the chance to relax, enjoy some kind of beautiful all day long, and grow deeper in love with each other. And so here is to new beginnings, and the chance to start it all out right.