Move that Bus!!

Well, we were there!! After our Sunday service and lunch at Panda Express, I convinced the rest of the family that we just HAD to go see if we could "see" anything. They had said the family would probably arrive home around 1:00 p.m. We arrived about 1:45, and they weren't there yet. It was quite warm out that day - I even watched as the medics were called over for a woman who was overcome by the heat. We were probably a spectacle to the others that were there since we were the only ones in "Sunday dress." I told the boys just to walk with confidence - they would probably think we were someone important. LOL! According to the newpaper there were about 3,000 people on the streets that day to watch - some people were even on their rooftops to get above the crowd.

Sometime around 2:30 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Austin" came to an end. You could feel the excitement building as the crew began to take their places. They were shouting to each other and to the crowd - giving directions to those who needed to be in certain spots. When the "stars" came out of the house the crowd went crazy (whether or not you agree with their lifestyle, you do have to agree that they are accomplishing great things through this program).
(The picture above is Ty Pennington w/the spiky hair - the guru of the show. Below with his back to the camera in the striped shirt is Eduardo - one of the design team members. And below that picture is Paul, gray hair w/dark framed glasses - also a design team member.)

During the excitement several things were taking place: they rolled a brand new, stainless steel grill down the street and into the backyard, they started lining up the volunteers around the yard to be in place when the family arrived, the "stars" came out of the house and gave last minute instructions, AND they moved the bus in. They placed the bus right in front of the house to block the view from the family as they got out of the limosine. Not long after everything was in place, a beautiful black limo came quickly down the street and parked behind the bus (if you look behind the bus in the picture, you can see the front windshield of the limo).

The crowd was cheering and waving. Once the family was out, the crowd was again given instructions and began to chant, "MOVE THAT BUS! MOVE THAT BUS!" It was awesome.

We weren't close enough to see the family to get any pictures of them, but Gene and Cameron were able to see the father. He was wiping the tears away. We could only imagine the feelings they must have felt. They left their home on Monday, spent a week at a special camp for autistic children, and came home on Sunday to a completely different house.

(here are some side views of the house - we were not able to get to the front to take a picture)


They are not giving out details about the inside of the house to keep it a surprise for the shows airing in February or March. There is a link on our earlier post about this exciting event to the Austin American Statesman website. They have pictures and updates there. You can actually see the family up close when they first saw the house

Since we have built two homes, we can't even imagine how they could accomplish this in just six days. It was really awesome to get to watch this happen.