Herriman Burning...

Sunday afternoon, the light in my house turned an eerie orange- and when we went outside this is what we saw: My brother, Scott, called around 5:00 p.m. asking if we were burning- but I said all I saw was smoke- and a lot of it. At just around 7 p.m. I noticed the helicopters getting water from the reservoir up the street- so I loaded my kiddos in the stroller and headed up to watch it- thinking it would be a sight to see- a learning opportunity "field trip" of sorts! As we stood there chatting with neighbors and half of my ward- the black smoke was much more visible. I was talking with my neighbor Michelle; whose husband is a police officer who happened to be helping in the cove area of our little city; and he sent her text messages ssying that some homes were going to burn. That was the first inkling I had of how serious this fire was. As we stood there- the flames came to the top of the ridge and sent chills down my spine. I decided it was time to go home and pack. As we walked quickly back down the street, Bobby was so worried. "Is the fire going to burn our house?" and "Look! there's the flames!" I put my kiddos into the tub and called my mom and dad for help as Ryan has been out of town on business. My kids could sense the seriousness of the situation; and poor Bobby was so worried! We could see the fire from our back windows.
Well, while I waited I got call after call from neighbors and friends telling me to evacuate. Neighbors and my parents helped me get pictures, photo albums, computer hard drive, dog with dog kennel and food, suitcases with 72 hours of clothing, etc. loaded into the van. I can't even express how surreal it all seemed. My kiddos and I had a prayer before anyone arrived; and I felt peace and a sense of calm- my house would be fine. I took some video- shown below before I left. It took a half hour to get from my house to the main road to get out of Herriman. I tossed and turned all night dreaming my house had some smoke and fire damage. Facebook and twitter were awesome sites to get the latest about the fire... So on Monday morning, since school was cancelled and we were at Grandma's: we went birthday shopping for Logan. We went out to lunch and shopping. Ryan and I had been talking on the phone constantly; and he was surprised Monday night that we weren't allowed back home, yet. Tuesday morning I took Jordan to school late; and seeing the black mountain and charred scrub oak was crazy! I still can't believe how close the fire came to so many homes; yet didn't burn them. A miracle, people; seriously. We bummed around Tuesday; doing some more errands and left Brinkley at Tricia's; then returned to Grandma's once again. I was feeling totally displaced by then; but my mom came off hero by throwing a First Birthday party for Logan at her house! We had some delicious cake and ice cream with presents. I put the kids into her tub when I began receiving calls from friends and neighbors that we could come home! Hooray!
Our house is fine. No smoke, no soot. I continue to hear helicopters and see police and fire engines in our neighborhood- and I am grateful- sooo grateful to them. It was a crazy week for sure; but we're doing great- back into the routine and everything. I love where I live- it has the best people ever!!

Taken from my deck on the back of our home