Herriman Machine Gun Fire

Okay so this was a very intense experience for me. I felt helpless as was directed to turn away because the area was under evacuation.

Even though we had prepared for a day like today we were not home and so we were not able to reach our 72 hour kits.

We had gone to Jeff's mom and dad's for dinner on Sunday, September 19. We could see and smell a fire earlier that day but it appeared to be on the other side of the mountain. We didn't think too much of it.

As we hung out at Jeff's parents house we could see the smoke it seemed to cover the entire sky. It was time to go home and that's when Jeff's dad told us to call him and let us know we got home safely.

Well as we were driving along 13400 South we got a closer view of the fire. It had come clear down the mountain side - much like you'll see in the pictures below. I couldn't believe how far down the side of the mountain it came. It looked to me like it was next to the Black Ridge Reservoir.

Jeff noticed a lot of traffic heading out of Herriman and said I bet they are evacuating Herriman. I thought he was probably right. We continued towards our home and as we got closer we went slower. They were blocking off the street at that point. Making everyone go into the right hand turn lane. We couldn't turn left to go home. There was a sheriff blocking the way both south and west. It felt so weird.

Hayden started to cry. I began trying to call Jeff's dad to let him know we were being evacuated. No calls would go through. It just kept saying "CALL FAILED." That felt really eerie. This was like a movie. It felt like everyone was in a panic. It was a very tense situation to be in. We thought okay so we'll go west at 12600 South. It seems like it took at least 15 minutes to travel from 13400 South to 12600 South and as we got closer we saw they had that blocked off too.

We decided to go to the Peterson's to see if they knew more. They let us in and we were able to make a few calls from there. We confirmed that we couldn't get home tonight we'd have to try again in the morning. We called Jeff's dad and asked him if we could stay there tonight. He of course said yes.

This is one of the three houses that burned to the ground. :(

Here's one of the many houses that was saved. WOW! Enough said.

And here is an areal view of the damage. Wow it makes you feel amazed that not more homes were lost.

Baptism Day

Hayden was baptized on Saturday, August 28 at 11:30 am. He was SO excited!! He has waited for this day for a long time. Did you know that he has talked to me about getting baptized now for at least a year. He was super excited about it. He also waited an extra month because he really wanted his friend to be able to come to it. Isaac Peterson has a b-day just three days after his and he really wanted to see him get baptized and be able to have Isaac see him get baptized.

Hayden was the only one in our ward that was getting baptized from our stake this month. So he was in charge of the whole program.

He chose to sing Come Follow Me and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the opening and closing songs. He wanted Pam to lead the music and was excited that Wesley could play the piano and Haylee played the flute!! He wanted Grandma and Grandpa Quick to say the prayers.

Then I asked him who he wanted to give the talks. There was a Holy Ghost talk and a Baptism talk. He thought for a while and then said he wanted dad to do it. :) I told him maybe since dad was baptizing him and confirming him that we could ask someone else in the family to do that. I helped suggest lots of aunts and uncles that he could ask. He listened and then said, mom I want Josh to give the Holy Ghost talk - so we asked Josh and he said sure. Then he said, "Mom want you to give the baptism talk." Okie dokie.

I was so glad so many could come and Grandma Quick said in her prayer that she felt the spirits of those present and those unable to attend. I thought that was so special because I felt the same way.

Hayden, I pray that you will be able to feel the Holy Ghost directing you for good and that you will have the strength to follow through with those feelings and directions. I believe when you feel those promptings that they are coming right from your Heavenly Father. He loves you so much. I know because I love you so much too.