Mom, Dad and my three sisters came to visit us for two weeks. During our first week together, we visited several attractions around the Valley–some that were new for me too.

One of the cool places we toured was the Musical Instrument Museum in Scottsdale. It was huge and had musical instruments from all over the world! The headphones allowed us to listen to the instruments as we looked at the exhibits. I liked how the signs told you not only the instrument’s name, but also what materials were used to make it. After seeing the many, many kinds of instruments, we turned into musicians ourselves in the “Experience Gallery.” This museum was a hit with my musical family!

The AZ SeaLife Aquarium was fun too. Indoor attractions during an Arizona summer are always a good idea! We saw beautiful jellyfish, a sea turtle, sting rays, seahorses, and we even had a picture taken with Captain Barnacles and Kwazzi from the kids’ cartoon show  The Octonauts.

The mall that houses the aquarium was full of fun things to do. The boys rode the carousel with Grandma and the Aunts and rode the train with Charis and Ruth Anna.

Later that week we enjoyed a puppet show at the Great Arizona Puppet Theater downtown. We watched the puppet story called “The Monkey and the Pirate.” The story was told by only one puppeteer, but she did a fantastic job! The people puppets had heads made of paper mache, so their mouths didn’t move, but the puppeteer could still express a lot with them.

My family left for about five days to minister with a missionary on the Tohono O’odham reservation, and then returned for another week of visits.

While we spent a lot of time at home, we did make it to Chandler’s Rawhide Western Town. The gunfight shows were fun, and we even took a hayride. Silas and Cooper looked adorable in their matching red cowboy hats. These two cowpokes have lassooed our hearts!

Family time is so precious. Silas and Cooper had a blast with “the aunts and uncles” as Silas called my family. We’re glad they could come all the way from West Virginia to the West Valley.