Sometimes I Write

52 degrees, cloudy and breezy, but NO RAIN. (Thank you God!) Yesterday was amazing. There were thousands of people gathered to see the house, cheer on the Woodhouses, and I suspect, try to get on T.V. 🙂 I took A LOT of pictures and it’s really hard to narrow it down to a few for blogging purposes! But I think I did alright.

With my two youngest kiddos in tow and my friend Heather by my side to help me, we walked what seemed like a mile from spectator parking to the staging area for the house. We were just four people in a sea of thousands. It was very surreal, and I was a bit nervous and kept my children close. It would have been easy to get lost in that crowd! There were people coming and going the whole time we were there. Several news crews were set-up and there was a marching band playing when we arrived. The reveal was supposed to be at 2 p.m., but that hour came and went without even a glimpse of Ty. He finally appeared and the crowd went wild. Can you say “star power”? Petey saw him and laughed, “He’s in real life!” The bus backed up into position in front of the house and we waited for the limo to pick up the family, who had spent the day in a trailer on the other side of the site excitedly waiting to see their new home.

While we waited, I chatted and the kids played in the dirt. Some of our writer friends were there, but most of the people around us didn’t know the family. There were blue shirts with the trademark logo sprinkled throughout the crowd and I felt a swell of gratitude to all who had volunteered to make someone else’s dreams come true. It’s one of the reasons I like the show – seeing people give of themselves to help others and a community coming together.

Everyone screamed and cheered when the limo pulled up and Ty opened the door for the family to get out. They waved to the crowd and talked with Ty, then it was time for us to yell, “Move That Bus!” which my children had been practicing on the way to Colorado Springs. They’ve seen the show and they know how it works.

I can only imagine how they felt seeing their new home and I wish I could have caught their facial expressions on camera. Like you, I’m going to have to wait until the show airs in January to see it. However, I did capture their surprise over their new car, a 2009 Ford Flex.

The car and the house are wonderful and I can’t wait to see the inside of both! I did a little research on the web to see what others had already said so I wouldn’t divulge any secrets about the inside of the house, and I learned a few things that I didn’t know already. So much for secrecy.  So here’s an inside scoop – though you have to promise to watch the show when it airs to see all of this cool stuff. The home has a home theater styled after a drive-in complete with special seats from a 1964 Mustang Convertible, and a bowling alley and ice cream parlor in the basement. Kayla has a wall size aquarium in her room, and Josh has a dragon’s castle in his. He’s a big fan of Donita K.Paul, a local author who’s a neat lady! Be sure to check her out. They have a state of the art Homeschooling room which I plan to borrow some of their creative ideas from though mine won’t compare in size. Theirs is probably bigger than my living room and dining room combined. But I can take away ideas and make them work for me and my space. 😉 The rest is rumor so that’s all I can tell you for now.

The designers were there, but we only met two, Ed and Rib – a new designer to the show. Ed is my favorite, so I was excited when he was more than happy to take a picture with Zoe. She got a sudden shy streak and Ed had to help me convince her to take the picture “for Benny”. That’s when she agreed – little stinker. He was very friendly and funny and entertained the crowd while signing autographs and taking pictures with everyone who asked. I took their pictures with Kim’s parents and sister as well.

We watched as the crew filmed Kim, Jeremy, Josh, and Kayla coming out of the house to see their new car four times. It was funny to watch them be “surprised” over and over again. I was amazed that they got everyone to be quiet long enough to get their shots. Well, by that time most of the crowd had left. Only a few hundred people stuck around after the first time the family went into the house. You should have seen the line of cars trying to leave the site. We waited around until the crowd had dwindled, but we knew we weren’t going to get to talk with the family, so we eventually left and went out for dinner with our friends from the ACFW writer’s group. I love dining out with other writers. (That’s how I met Donita Paul). The discussions are always interesting and funny.

Thanks for sticking around to read about my friends. Thank you to all who prayed for this miracle to happen. Kayla’s home is safe, functional, beautiful, and so much fun. Thank you to the people with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for choosing this deserving family and I give a big round of applause to the thousands of people who gave time, resources, money, and land to this project. The show will be airing in January. I’ll give you an exact date when I know one.

I’m including a few other links about their story and I’ll leave you with a few more pictures. Did I mention it was hard to narrow it down?

http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/364259/?nextnav=recent

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/10314187.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21194410/

The big reveal of Kim’s new house is at 2 p.m. this Sunday afternoon in Colorado Springs. It pays to have friends in high places that can hopefully save you a spot since you’ll get there very shortly before the family is due to arrive. 😉 Doing this with three kiddos in tow will be interesting, but I’m armed with stuff to keep them occupied while we stand around waiting. The episode air date hasn’t been announced yet, so I’ll get back to you on that one.

I have a list of questions to ask Kim after things calm down. Questions like…What do they do with all of your stuff while they’re building? Did you cry a lot during filming? If not, how did you remain calm? How detailed did you get to be in your requests of what you’d wish for? What’s it like talking to Ty on the phone? How did your neighbors handle all the extra traffic/noise in the middle of the night? When will the house tours begin? lol

How about you? Do you have any questions for Kim and her family? Leave me a comment or email me and I’ll ask them for you…as soon as she can breathe again. 😉

In addition to Friday Family Movie Night, we also watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition as a family on Sunday nights.  It is by far the best show on television (Yeah ABC) and I’m looking forward to the airing of the episode that will feature my friend Kim and her family!  THEY WERE CHOSEN!!!

I waited and waited this morning, hoping my phone would ring before I had to shut it off when I got to church.  I prayed.  I told several of my friends that I was waiting to hear if the Woodhouses had been chosen or not.  After services I went outside and turned my phone back on and had a message from Kim’s best friend letting me know the bus had arrived this morning! I laughed and cried and jumped up and down a bit, then told my friends who were still hanging around.  I was am so excited!  I want to know a thousand little details that I don’t have yet.  Obviously Kim’s going to be unavailable for awhile, so we’re trusting her friends and family to keep all of us locals apprised of the plans for the build and the reveal so we can be there in the crowd to scream, “MOVE THAT BUS!”

Thank you to all who prayed and are going to continue to pray for the Woodhouses throughout this process.  This is a HUGE blessing and I couldn’t be more excited for them!  This sweet family is such a gift to so many people and I’m just thrilled to know that some of their dreams are coming true.  Personally, I’m praying for healing for Kayla as well.  I hate the thought of her living with these medical conditions her whole life and I want God to heal her young body!  He just provided a new home and numerous other miracles for their family and I know He can heal her too, so I’m asking for it.

I’ll let everyone know when the reveal is and when the show will air as soon as I know!

My friend Kim Woodhouse is an amazing woman!  We’re still getting to know each other, but we already have several things in common – besides being amazing. 😉

I met Kim last Spring at a writer’s group.  She was super friendly and very welcoming to me.  Heather and I had met Kim and another friend, Mary, for supper at Bennigan’s before the writer’s group.  It didn’t take long for the laughter to begin and we all hit it off really well.  That night was life changing for me and I’m glad Kim was there and part of it all.  I learned that Kim is a pastor’s wife, a mom, a musician, and a writer.  Ahhhh Common ground.  She also makes the best truffles I’ve ever had!  She promised to teach me how to make them someday, and I’ll hold her to that!

Jeremy, Kim, Josh, and Kayla Woodhouse

I’m blogging about Kim today because my friend and her family need your prayers.  I’m linking you to one of her blogs so you can read the full story, but I’ll give you the short version here.  Kim’s daughter Kayla has a disorder so rare that she is the only child exactly like her in the entire world with her particular form of the disorder. This rare nerve disorder is called Hereditary Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN). Her body does not signal her brain to regulate her body temperature and she cannot feel pain unless it is extremely intense.  Most recently, Kayla was diagnosed with another rare problem completely unrelated to her HSAN. In March 2006, after over a year of severe headaches, doctors found a malformation in the lower portion of Kayla’s brain. As a result, her brain was growing into her spinal column and to avoid long-term damage and paralysis in September of 2006, Kayla had brain decompression surgery.  Click here to read the rest of the story.

They could use your prayer and support as this battle will be a lifelong one for Kayla.  But that’s not all.  Kim’s family has been selected as a finalist for the hit T.V. show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  Kim emailed all of her friends today asking for prayer as the next few days are going to be crazy for them.  Their producer arrives today.  Then on Sunday they will find out if they were chosen or not…if the bus shows up.  If you’ve seen the show, you know the drill.  This has been in the works for over a year and this will be a huge deal whether or not they’re chosen.  Emotions are running high and if they are chosen, they will be blessed with a new house – one that is safe for Kayla and will make life so much easier for them all.  Just the stresses of the traveling to a vacation destination hold dangers which take many extra precautions.  If another family is chosen, the disappointment will be great and they will need your prayers as they regroup and decide how to move forward from here.  They live most of their life IN their home – it’s the safest and easiest way to regulate Kayla’s temperature – so this would be a tremendous blessing for their family to be chosen!

Please pray for my friend and her family, and I’ll give you an update as soon as I can.  In the meantime, go read Kayla’s story, and check out Kim and her many talents!  She has links to her music ministry website and her other blog from this link below.

http://www.kimberleywrites.blogspot.com/