Mexico!

Hi everyone! Dylan and I came down from cloud 9 on Sunday... we got back from our honeymoon to Mexico! Words cannot describe how wonderful a trip it was for us... the scenery, the weather, the resort, the food, the drinks, the service, the staff, the activities.... everything was absolutely amazing.
We stayed at the Aventura Spa Palace, which is in the Mayan Riviera (about 90 minutes south of Cancun). From the moment we stepped onto the resort we were humbled by the service of the Mexican staff there. They were carrying our bags, offering us smoothies, escorting us to our room... and then in the restaurants they pulled out our chairs for us, laid our napkins on our lap, and were great waiters. Oh, and when we were relaxing next to the pools or beach, the staff would come along and ask us if we wanted anything to eat or drink.
When we weren't enjoying ourselves at the resort, we spent time going on tours. We went to Chichen-Itza (Mayan ruins), snorkeling, and swimming with the dolphins. Each tour was also amazing!
We also had the delight of meeting a couple other honeymoon couples... we ate dinner together, sipped martinis together, and sang karaoke together. What a fun blessing!
Well, like I said before, it's hard to put our vacation into words, so now I'll show you some pictures that will hopefully help capture it a bit more...

Winter Update

It's been a busy holiday season for the Klines!
The weekend before Christmas Dylan and I went to Des Moines to have the Loos family Christmas. Even though it was in a different place than usual and it was a weekend before actual Christmas, it still felt like real Christmas. It was especially fun to have Gretta around this year...she brings us all so much joy!! We had the traditional Italian meal like we always do for Christmas, we played games, opened gifts, and went to church together in the morning to see Hope's Christmas Cantata. It was a great weekend!





On Christmas eve we traveled to Davenport, bringing Murray along this time! Dylan's parents (and every Kline family) has a cat, and since we were going to be gone for 5 days, we thought we'd see how Murray and Teegra would get along! They started out pretty cautious, sniffing each other all around and what-not, and they eventually started wrestling and playing and then even sleeping by each other. Teegra gave Murray, the younger kitty, a bath a couple times too! Needless to say, it was really cute to see those two together and it was hard to separate them when we had to go home.

We had another great Christmas celebration in Davenport... Christmas eve was spent at Dylan's sister's house with the entire Kline extended family. We had finger food and exchanged white elephant gifts, which was really fun. On Christmas morning Dylan and I and his parents opened gifts from one another, and then we headed over to Dylan's aunt and uncle's for lunch. Yet another Christmas celebration took place on Friday evening with Dylan's sister and her family. They came over to Dylan's parents' place and we had dinner and exchanged gifts again! In between all the fun partying, eating, and gift giving, Dylan and I relaxed, did a bit of after Christmas shopping, and hung out with friends who were in the area. Fun!!



Even though I've had a lot of time off from school this month, I certainly haven't gotten bored. With all the comings and goings and celebrations of the season, I've kept busy with wifely duties while Dylan works. Today Dylan and I are leaving for Clear Lake for one night, then to Minneapolis to stay with my aunt and uncle and their family (Guttormson's), and Monday we are leaving for our long-awaited honeymoon in Mexico!! We'll certainly be posting pictures of our vacation once we get back.
We hope that your holiday season has been full of joy and relaxation... and may it continue into the New Year.
Love to all!
Dana and Dylan and Murrbags.