Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Here Come the Spectators

Drew is soooo excited to see all the people and see all the big trucks!




Steady line of people walking down Elm Street towards the build.




Twitter and Facebook have been great resources of getting information out to those interested in the build.






Lots of bikes parked outside the build... you can also take Valley Transit right to the corner of Elm and Lauden but check the bus schedule for times.




The people standing in this lawn and on the front porch are spectators - not any of them live at this house. The Extreme Home Makeover team has promised to come through after the crew and visitors have left to fix up the neighborhood lawns that are being trampled.




The crowd is just HUGE!




The celebrities are few and far between. Ty hasn't even been in town at all for the last few days. I guess his secret project woes come from him not being around to get them accomplished!




What a way to bring out the best in the community!




Lexington homes has been giving away tons of free stuff!!!




Everyone came out to see a piece of this...




They got "hats, t-shirts and jerseys"....








This family has come by everyday to sell lemonade - all proceeds go towards the family.




Its gonna be pretty quiet around here next week - we might even hear the crickets again!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Night falls on the build

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Neighborhood happenings...

Lemonade stands going up all over! Be sure to bring your change...




These lovely ladies are burning tons of calories with all the walking they are doing! The ATV on the right is decorated "Paige Style" - gotta love the pink!




Floor joists...





Debris from the demolition of the home... There are about 10 of these lined up - and yes they are recycling.





Onlookers...




Production crew rigging up a camera.




Digging the foundation...




Neenah Fire and Police on hand in case of an emergency.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Who's that Bus?

Ever since "the bus" has rolled into the 'hood nothing has quite been the same... actually, it never will be. A deserving family was swept off their feet and the entire community has turned up to tear down, cheer on, and rebuild a statement home that says "dreams really do come true".

The attitude is infectious. Everyone walking by as a forward tilt of enthusiasm in their step. So many people signed up to volunteer that they are turning turning people away. I signed up to do a number of specialized tasks via the online volunteer contact sheet. But since there are no need for more volunteers in blue shirts I decided to do what I could in my own way.

For one I am doing a behind-the-scenes photo essay on this blog and we are planning on putting a giant twitter hashtag (#emhewi) in our front lawn. Another idea we had was to host a water bottle sale on our lawn and donate the money to the build. We are bringing goodies to the Extreme Security and NPD. But most of all just sharing a smile and a wave as onlookers walk by.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Welcome to Neenah! I've decided to do a little photo essay of things that I see this week during the build. We live on the street up the block from the family that has been chosen to receive this amazing life changing gift.

I've witnessed some amazing things happen so early into it all (and yes, I've already had tears well up in my eyes). I hope to bring an insiders view to help better describe what it is like to live in a 24 hour construction zone and photograph it in all it's glory.

Follow me on twitter for up-to-date information about the build!
http://twitter.com/ardent_photo

or my husband Andy and all his witty charm at
http://twitter.com/andygaerthofner

5 months old....

Tomorrow my baby girl is turning 5 months old. She is such a delight! I've had this past week to spend with her all alone with no big brother around. Emerson loves to smile and laugh... her new big thing is to blow spit bubbles and make baby pteranodon noises.

This week we also found out that our sweet baby girl will need to have surgery in a few months. In late June Emerie had a UTI infection that lead us to have a series of tests. A visit this week with a pediatric urologist explained that she has some crazy stuff going on. In a nut shell, she will end up having part of her right kidney removed as well as some other things that are going on with the tubes that drain to the bladder.

We are hoping this is just a little hiccup in our lives. The abnormality is neither hereditary nor caused by anything from the outside world. This is just how God initially wanted Emerson's cells to form inutero.

Right now we are praying for her and loving her. She is soooo awesome and we know she will pull through.