Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

This season on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, they are celebrating everyday heroes.  They are here in Lansing(Holt, to be specific) to help the family of a nurse who worked at Ingham Hospital.  He died earlier this year, leaving being a wife and three boys.  They lived in an 130 year old farm house that was in really, really bad shape.

When I heard that Extreme Makeover was coming to Holt, I really hoped that I could go and help.  They were asking for volunteers from the medical field, and my sister-in-law Lindsey is a nurse at Sparrow Hospital.  She was able to invite some family members, and she was kind enough to invite me.  :)    She also invited her mom and dad, Dave and Diana.

Everyone  met early Sunday morning at a parking lot near the house, which for you former Michigan residents, is on Eifert Road between Willoughby and Holt Road.  We were told that we might be helping pack the families belongings.  But I'd heard on the news the night before that this had already been done.   So we really didn't know what we would be doing.  And none of the people working at the gathering place didn't know either.  There was a lot of confusion.  All the medical workers wore their scrubs, and everyone else had to get a blue shirt, which ran out quickly.  We were told if you weren't wearing one of the two, you would not get to help at the house.  Dave had managed to get one blue shirt, and was very kind and gave it to me.  Dave and Diana ended up going home.  :(

They were taking people to the house by bus, and by the time Lindsey and I were able to get on one, they said they had enough people and that we could only be spectators.  But when we got to the house, we were told to go join the group of people that were getting ready to go the big march that you see at the beginning of the show!  

After doing a couple takes of the march, the big group made a circle around Ty Pennington, the designers and the home builder.  They did a scene that you couldn't really hear, but every once and a while you got the que that you were supposed to clap and cheer really loud.  After this, they send a group of people that were friends of the man who had died to "save"  some more important items from the house.  At this point, I really couldn't see a thing.   I was too far back in the crowd.  But, then Lindsey found me, and I went with her to a place were I could see everything, including Ty and the designers.  

This took quite a while, and after they were finished, they brought out a really big machine to tear down the house.  I can't believe how close they let us stand while they did it.  We were only 20 or 30 yards away.  It's amazing how something that took months to build came down in a matter of minutes.  

I had a great time, and am really grateful to Lindsey, and for all the people at church who helped out with the kids so I could have this opportunity.  It was so much fun, and I glad this family can have the help that they need.   I'm not sure when the episode is going to air, but I will keep you updated, so you can see my national TV debut!  Oh, and for you past members of the Holt Ward, keep an eye out for Kent Gleason!  He has a really good shot of getting on the show.  

I will try to get to the house this week so I can take some pictures of the new house.  In the meantime,  check out the next few posts for more details and pictures.  They are not as longwinded as this one is!