It's been a sad time in our city lately.

On our way back into town on Saturday, June 23, we saw a plume of smoke looming over the mountains. As we continued driving we could literally see the smoke increase and new pockets pop up. It wasn't long before the sky was an ominous color and the smell of smoke was in the air. It was scary. But not as scary as it would soon become.

Tuesday evening was a truly frightening, sad time for our city. We were not near the actual fire or the evacuation zone, but could see flames, saw the sky turn a color we'd never like to see again, witnessed a blood red sun that was really unlike any other, and just watched in disbelief as the fire raged. The next morning there were small pieces of debris on our desk. Picking up a piece and realizing there were words on it, it suddenly hit me that this was part of someone's life, of someone's home. Then a few days later, giving our girl a bath, it hit us again that there were several families that didn't even have a bathtub anymore to bathe their kids in.

It's been a sobering week and a half, for sure. There have been tears and lots of prayers. But through the sadness and devastation, it's been amazing to see a whole community come together, open hearts and just try to help in any small way. And we give thanks to those amazing firefighters who fearlessly fight.