(Half of) JUNE

Yes, in case you have noticed, I skipped April and May. I plan to backtrack and catch up on those "lost months". We have been extremely busy- in a good way. We put our house on the market in March and it sold on July 1. Perfect timing since we moved out on June 19 and began a cross country trip. Because I warned the kids that we were going to be on the road a lot, Tyson appropriately named our travels, "Journey Never Dunn" and McKay cleverly added, "Where the FUN is never Dunn."

Matt completed his residency and started a job as a hospitalist (takes care of patients admitted to the hospital) on July 15. We have been in Flagstaff, Arizona for just over a week and I love it here. The scenery is amazing and the weather has been perfect. We have not turned on the air one time and the kids have played outside constantly. As I write, I am sitting on the deck with a great view of the stars and a slight breeze. It is a beautiful, peaceful night. Everyone seems friendly and it feels like a perfect town to raise our family.

I have scrapbooked our cross-country travels but still have a lot to catch up on. We went to Disney World in April, had fun birthdays and lots of "last" day trips in May, and said goodbye to our friends in Delaware in June.

Finally- to our travels. We logged 4,200 miles on our van in less than a month. The kids were great and we had lots of amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences. It was a trip we will never forget. A lot of the sites we went to were church history sites- remembering the sacrifices made by the early pioneers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the last site we visited, there was a quote that I loved. It is written by a pioneer about why she wrote her story for those who follow to remember:

"I have a desire to leave a record of those scenes and events, through which I have passed, that my children, down to my latest posterity may read what their ancestors were willing to suffer, and did suffer, patiently for the Gospel’s sake. . . I hope, too, that it will inspire my posterity with fortitude to stand firm and faithful to the truth, and be willing to suffer, and sacrifice all things they may be required to pass through for the sake of the Kingdom of God.”

She summed up why it is so important to remember the sacrifices of the early pioneers. They gave up so much so that we could have the gospel. Their sacrifice should inspire us to stay strong to what we know is true.

I know this has been a long blog entry- but just one more thought. Mount Rushmore was amazing. During the night show previous to lighting the monument, they show a movie clip that plays "America the Beautiful" while showing scenes across America. I thought of our drive across the country and how we had really seen everything- almost from sea to shining sea. We truly live in a beautiful country. I had an overwhelming gratitude for the beauty of the earth that we live on. And I have to say, the most beautiful part of our journey was the last three hours to Flagstaff. It is soooo beautiful here. So, I hope you feel compelled to visit us.
PS- A lot of these pages are just collages of what we did! I had a lot of pictures to share and thought it would be the best way!