Move That BUS!!!

Today was the day for the big house reveal to the Certa family. I picked up the kids from school early so they would get to be there. We arrived around 1:30 and the reveal was supposed to happen around 2:30. There was already a huge crowd gathered and we weren't sure how close we would get. But thanks to knowing the right people.... we moved right ahead and joined the VIP crowd (thanks Anjuli!).
The famous bus was already in front of the house so I couldn't see it completed yet.
We waited for a very long, hot, tiring hour before anything "happened". The film crew began staging and filming the crowd shots.
That's when Ty appeared... and the crowd went WILD!
He was very cool and perhaps a bit snobby (Miranda thinks). He was reading his script, memorizing lines before the family came.
They had an empty limo drive in and we had to pretend we were cheering for the family to come home. This is Ty opening the empty limo.Then we had to yell "move that bus" over and over and over and over again. But, the bus still didn't move... (remember they were filming the crowd shots).
Then, they finally moved the cameras onto the bus and we yelled one more time.... MOVE THAT BUS... and it moved!! (Twice)
The house was finished and looked amazing! So after all the crowd and staging shots it was more waiting... waiting for the family to arrive.
It was very hot and our legs were getting tired, but it was worth it.... finally they came!!!


As you can tell from the video, the camera men were right in front of us, but I actually had a pretty clear shot of the family coming home.
Here's the Certa family meeting the Builders & Designers... lots of hugs and gratitude going on there!Then it was time for the official moving of the bus.... I couldn't videotape because we were being filmed. The family was truly shocked and amazed.
Then Ty said the famous line... "Certa family, go check out your new house"
Three times.... They literally walked up to the door, came back, walked to the door again, and came back. Then the cameramen went inside the house to film them coming in....

It was crazy to see everything done over and over just so they had options for editing.
Finally the family went inside. Then Ty came back out to the street so they could re-tape his close-up. He asked a member of the crew to stand in as the family so he wasn't talking into thin air... it was pretty funny.Then all the crew went inside the house and we decided it was time for us to go. I'm sure we missed out on some more filming, but everyone was so hot, tired and hungry that we were finished.
It was an amazing thing to experience first hand (and up close). I have a great admiration for all the people who worked so hard to get this house completed in one week. I wish I could have done some hands on helping, but it just didn't work out for me. I hope Brent Wright, Daniel Bartlett, Byron Christofferson and all the others who worked 24/7 sleep soundly tonight... they deserve it!
I've heard that this episode of Extreme Home Makeover is scheduled to air on TV on May 10th so be sure to tune in.... you just might recognize someone you all know and love!!!