Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Ty Pennington, filming

Fred and I on the set

Camera crew and volunteers

My husband and I had a fun afternoon on the set of Extreme Home Makeover. It is absolutely amazing what one camera crew, one cast, and several hundred local volunteers can do in 5 days!

Two days ago, an old abandoned house was standing in the place where this project is being done. Monday night, a family dislocated by flood and financial hardship, will be sleeping in their brand new home after a lovely week in Hawaii!

My husband and I wore guest passes around our necks -allowing us access to anywhere on the site. We watched the camera crew -film, the operations crew -oversee, the security crew -secure, along with all kinds of activity that I never would have imagined happening behind the scenes. The mood was very upbeat and it was organized like I have never seen before.

The highlight of my day...not Ty, not the camera man, not the lunch I ate in the Crew Tent, but the kids. Kids...tons of them, walking down to the house that thier classmates used to live in (the two teenage kids whose home is being rebuilt) and the big eyes, the "wows!" out of their mouths, the way they strutted onto the set like they were very special (they were!) and the thank you's they offered as they were given cookies to snack on as they walked six blocks back to their school building. The community is into this! Everyone was thrilled to see the blessing that will be bestowed on this family. Just really cool stuff.

The show is scheduled to air on February 15, 2009. My guest pass is good through the revealing of the house on Monday afternoon. Who knows....maybe I will go and watch them -

MOVE THAT BUS!

'Tis the season of giving. I love seeing this family be blessed in such an amazing way.