Extreme Home Makeover, UPDATE!

[DawnCt1]

We had a visitor this morning! One of the "stars" from EHM dropped in. DSs friend stopped by for a visit. He is still on cloud nine. DS has been inside of the house. It was so much fun to talk with him, that I don't even know where to begin. He knows he has been to WDW, had the most extreme vacation, but it seems like a dream. The entire family was so overwhelmed. They never imagined anything like this could have happened to them

They had a member of the show living with them for 2 weeks. Eating the same food, hanging out, being part of the family. So did 5 other families in our area that were finalists. The morning of the show, someone arrived early to cover all of the windows with black paper so the family could not see out. So did the other five finalists. They honestly didn't know. The grief counselor arrived for support. Told them that they knew it would be difficult if they didn't win but they would be able to talk about it, etc. That people would be assembly on their lawn just to see and it would, etc.Same for the other five families. Even though they taped up the windows, Larry looked out and saw me standing on his neighbor's lawn with the other neighbors. He told his family, "Mrs. C said she would come, she's here!" At 10:20 am, his dad, who is really a rock begun to get very anxious. He asked for water. The Extreme guest got up and got it for him. All of the six families were told that they would know at 10:30 am. They would hear a megaphone outside. At 10:30 they heard "Good Morning Hill Family". The dad was in shock. He was the last one outside the door because he was still reaching for the glass of water!

The Plane ride: For many of the kids, this was their first plane ride ever. The younger boy was terrified from the moment the door of the plane closed. He threw up in his barf bag a couple of times out of fear. His parents had to help him relax. He was much better on the way back.

The Vacation: Unbelievably incredible. They LOVED everything. The family had two personal tour guides assigned to them that knew everything. Larry saw an alligator for the first time in his life. It happened to be at Shades of Green where Mr. Hill is eligible to stay. He would love to go back. Larry and his brothers walked everywhere after the parks closed.They were blown away by the number of resorts and I think that they walked to every Magic Kingdom resort and took the transportion back to the GF. They stayed in the main building of the GF.

 

[DawnCt1]

I wanted to add that the family has no pictures of the activity, demolition, construction, the crowds, etc that went on at their house while they were gone. Larry was amazed by the pictures, particularly of Ty and the family coming into the house. I sent a bunch to his computer this morning. Some of the family thought that they wouldn't tear down the whole house but add on to it. His Dad loved his fireplace so much that he was sure that they would keep it and build around it.

 

[trip]

Thanks for the update. I have quit watching this show but will make sure I see this episode.

 

[DawnCt1]

Thanks for the update. I have quit watching this show but will make sure I see this episode.

They are essentially the choir, or at least the biggest part of it at their church. They sang at the House of Blues. I hope that it will be aired. It was taped. They will sing at the Big E this fall.

They knew that the house "could" be torn down, but they actually thought that they would add on. Before leaving, the Dad told the producer that he just needed a new garage door opener track, that the garage was good enough. And he liked his grill, even though it was old, "it worked fine". Of course all that is gone. Larry felt "more than a pang" when the house came down. They saw it on the monitor there. Its been his only home since he little.
ABC really prepared them for the good and the bad. Advised them to ignore the blogs. They will see mean stuff, etc. It happens to all of the families.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Wow! We had one here a few miles from us back in Feb. I went 3 times to watch it being built and took hundreds of photos, many of Ty and the gang. It truly is an amazing thing to witness. The volunteers made the family a book of photos. They had so many people offer to help that people were turned away. Stevie Wonder sang a private concert for the family too, and was spotted around town.

The oldest went to my sons schools and 2 of the girls were at my daughters. I did not know them, but she met 2 of the girls at at b'day party this summer and I met the mom. An amazing family (who lost the dad 3 days after "move that bus"). Here is the builders site for the home here. It was a 2 hour special on Easter night. http://www.extrememyddeltonparker.com/
I was somewhere in the crowd on TV when the furniture arrives.

I did not know how the other families were notified they were not chosen, but my friend lives in the chosen families neighborhood and they knew a couple days ahead that it was this family for sure. The people on the street could be put in hotels if they wished, but they all stayed and were treated like VIPS.

EHM does an amazing job, but the community does SO much of it too. I am glad you got to watch one too, hard to believe how these happen unless you experience it. I will go search and read your other posts about this.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Advised them to ignore the blogs. They will see mean stuff, etc. It happens to all of the families.

This is SO true, I was amazed at the things people said and wrote.

 

[DawnCt1]

Wow! We had one here a few miles from us back in Feb. I went 3 times to watch it being built and took hundreds of photos, many of Ty and the gang. It truly is an amazing thing to witness. The volunteers made the family a book of photos. They had so many people offer to help that people were turned away. Stevie Wonder sang a private concert for the family too, and was spotted around town.

The oldest went to my sons schools and 2 of the girls were at my daughters. I did not know them, but she met 2 of the girls at at b'day party this summer and I met the mom. An amazing family (who lost the dad 3 days after "move that bus"). Here is the builders site for the home here. It was a 2 hour special on Easter night. http://www.extrememyddeltonparker.com/
I was somewhere in the crowd on TV when the furniture arrives.

I did not know how the other families were notified they were not chosen, but my friend lives in the chosen families neighborhood and they knew a couple days ahead that it was this family for sure. The people on the street could be put in hotels if they wished, but they all stayed and were treated like VIPS.

EHM does an amazing job, but the community does SO much of it too. I am glad you got to watch one too, hard to believe how these happen unless you experience it. I will go search and read your other posts about this.

The same offer is made to all of the other five families' neighbors as well. In fact, they pull building permits in all of the towns. The only ones that know for sure are the police, but they are sworn to secrecy. One of the officers ran into one of the kids at school and told the family later than he would just say hi and hurry by.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

The same offer is made to all of the other five families' neighbors as well. In fact, they pull building permits in all of the towns. The only ones that know for sure are the police, but they are sworn to secrecy. One of the officers ran into one of the kids at school and told the family later than he would just say hi and hurry by.

I wondered if that was the case, but my friend was insistent that this was the selected family. She said everything was set up and cleared, dumpsters in place etc. No arguing with her!