A rural Alberta family is counting their blessings this holiday season, after fire ripped through their home.
The Herbert family lives in the Hamlet of Erskine, located about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.
In November, the family was devastated when their home went up in flames.
"I came home about 2pm and I noticed that there was smoke coming from the one side of the house," Cara Herbert recalled, "By the time (the first firefighter) got there, it wasn't five minutes, and there was flames through the roof. It kind of all happened really quickly after that."
"Smoke was rolling out of the roof everywhere," Cara's neighbour Noel Nixson explained, "It's tough. I wouldn't wish that on anybody."
All that remains of the family's dream home is a burnt frame.
"It was really devastating, hard to watch," Cara said, "We really fell in love. We had one of the most awesome summers out at the acreage so, really devastating to have this happen, especially this time of year."
Cara, her husband Tim and their four young children have since moved into their holiday trailer, located on the same property as their home.
"It's definitely not super spacious but, we all kind of fit in very cozy. Sometimes we get on each others nerves," Cara explained, "We are doing really well in there so, hopefully we'll be that much more happy when we get our house back."
But, the family won't be spending Christmas there. Cara and Tim will be spending the holidays at the Stollery Children's Hospital, while their other children stay with family.
The couple knew their 4-year-old daughter Gracie was in need of skull surgery. After receiving a phone call from her doctor, Gracie underwent surgery Friday night.
"She's as good as can be expected after a nine hour surgery. But, we will have some major recovery time here but, so far she's doing well. She wants to go home very badly so, that's a good sign," Cara said Saturday afternoon.
In preparation for Gracie's surgery, the family celebrated Christmas with loved ones on December 15th.
"The big thing for us was that it didn't necessarily matter what the day was, it was that we all got to spend it together," Cara explained.
She says her children have been incredibly strong through this tough time, and she couldn't be prouder. Cara was especially taken aback by a conversation she recently had with her nine-year-old son, Carson.
"He asked me if I thought maybe sometimes we didn't really need all that we had, we don't really need to get it all back, that we could be just as happy without it, which was pretty fantastic because there's even adults that can't say that and for a nine-year-old to be that open and able to say that is pretty fantastic."
The family's story has touched the hearts of many in the small community of Erskine.
"We got clothes together and did what we could. We've given them a little bit of money and I think everybody in the community has helped out a bit but, they've got a long road ahead of them," said Nixson.
Cara says she is extremely thankful for the overwhelming amount of support her and her family have received.
"We are just absolutely wowed at the community, at the support that we've had," she said, "I can't even say enough, it's just incredible. We're just so fortunate to be where we are and have the people in our lives that we do because, without them, we probably wouldn't be in as high spirits as we are now."
"Things are not as important. Being able to spend time with family was number one," added Cara.
With files from Jenna Bridges.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.