Bus, Moved

Extreme Makeover - Home Edition came to our neck of the woods last week! Ty surprised the Montgomery family of Philo, IL at their organization Salt and Light which is a local, non-denominational ministry whose mission is to share the love of God by helping and educating our neighbors in Champaign County who are at or below the poverty line to meet their needs. This is an amazing family that gives back to our community in a big way and they really deserve this makeover. Become a fan on Facebook (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Central Illinois) for more photos and videos.

On Sunday we headed to Willard Airport to take the shuttle to the closed set. It was a perfect day and so comfortable as it was in the lower 70s. The exterior of the house was pretty much done, so much of the work that day was on the interior and landscaping.

Tuesday was the big reveal and Mark's first day of classes, so we headed back out with Paula, Mark's mom, who is up for a visit. She described the town, event and the crowd as a slice of America and I agree. People of all ages came out to cheer the family on.

Riding in the charter bus, the spectators sang happy birthday to a boy who turned 11. We rode past cornfields to Philo, the Center of the Universe (according to the watertower). The town is tiny. I mean tiny! We passed a Casey's and I hear there is a bar. The Spectator entrance was on a baseball diamond in front of the house and was a quintessential snapshot of a midwestern American small town. There was free popcorn and brats on the grill for a donation. The show provided case after case of free water and wheat and gluten free 120 calorie packs of cookies (seems quite thoughtful, doesn't it?). They said it didn't make for good tv to have the crowd dropping like flies as it was very sunny and hot yesterday. We even had local cheerleaders leading the crowd to cheers for Brady Homes, the company that built the house.

$90,000 was raised for the family's mortgage and Salt and Light. It was touching to see the community step up in such a big way to give back to a family that has given so much of themselves. It was a long day, but we had so much fun being a small part of this life changing event. The show will air this fall (possibly Oct. 25th, but may air in November).