Some EXTREME Final Thoughts........

I admit, I was a bit star-struck by the "Hollywood" side of this project, excited to meet the familiar TV personalities that come into our home every Sunday evening, but as I journeyed through this process with my amazing husband, I was quickly reminded who the real heroes of this story were........The Marshalls, the builders who stood on the hot tin roof in 100+ heat to give this family their dream home, the stone workers who breathed the dry mortar into their lungs hour after hour, the Police who showed up to move thousands of pounds of rock across the lot in this EXTREME TEXAS heat just to support and help one of their own, the hundreds of people who showed up around the clock to make sure everyone had water in their hands, the restaurants who donated food, Dippin Dots & Dairy Queen who gave free ice cream to everyone, landscapers who didn't sleep for 3 days straight, friends who kept their friend's kids for days so that their parents could work around the clock, friends who loaded their cars with pallet after pallet of flowers to get them to this family's yard, without even batting an eye (never complaining that the pallets were full of spiders, frogs, and yellow jackets......), old high school friends who came at midnight to help water the yard, the men who made sure the porta-potties were functioning and stocked, people who picked up trash, I could really go on and on.

I hope to get my point across......of course, we need beautiful Hollywood to pop in here and there tape a few scenes to attract viewers, of course we need strong, burly Country Music stars to show up, get a shot of himself welding a little, then boot-scoot back to his trailer, this makes people interested, want to watch...I'm first to call myself guilty......... I couldn't wait to meet TY, which I must add NEVER HAPPENED. I'm sure the little guy gets tired of signing his name??? and that's why the whole cast took pictures and signed for everyone, but him?? I am guilty of jumping at the chance to get my picture taken with Trace Adkins and then having my heart sink when I saw him turn down a little girl who asked for his autograph once the cameras were off.......But lesson learned and I'm so proud of my girls.....for asking for the Landscapers and the Electricians autographs FIRST!

May we always keep in perspective what really goes on in these EXTREME MAKEOVERS, it is the community of hard-working everyday people pulling together and pouring their hearts into the trade that they do best, in most cases, for a complete stranger, so that this person may have a better, easier life in times of EXTREME hardship.

I'm truly grateful for ABC and the EXTREME MAKEOVER TEAM that make these projects possible for very deserving families, but my heart swells when I think of the everyday people that come together and give the project actual life!

We were so blessed and are thankful that the opportunity arose for our family to help with this life changing experience for this precious family in need!