And on the 7th Day

It seems like only yesterday we got the call that Extreme Makeover wanted to talk to Bob about building a house. The week of the build was great, meeting so many people who gave so selflessly to make the dream of a home reality for the Hall family. Everything happened so fast. It's truly amazing how this all comes together so quickly.

Here then is the final video - the day of the reveal. Enjoy!

The Final Touches

Wednesday progress is left to the final touches. We've had great weather for the build and all of the volunteers have been wonderful.

Tuesday in Motion!

Another Great video of the day by Deanna -

For anyone who doesn't believe in miracles or the power of people - this is a testament to what can happen when prayers are answered.

Amazing!

This video was shot by Deanna of Today for Tomorrow Productions. A great view of what's been happening the last couple of days.

Day 2 at the Extreme Makeover site

Overnight from the first day there was a basement, and now there are concrete basement walls. Today we added the insulated concrete forms and the house outline can clearly be seen. The wind made it sometimes challenging but all in all we've had a good day. Met lots of people and had some fun.

You'll see that we are a bit behind adding the day by day - before we can show you photos they have to be approved by the ABC liaison. But we've got some good ones from people on site & from our photographers. Check the photo gallery and this blog daily from here on out for the latest. If you have any photos email us so we can post!
This video by Today for Tomorrow Productions:

Day 1 at the Extreme Makeover site

While people were enjoying the ambush of the Carl Hall family, the new home was already underway digging the basement of the home. Volunteers worked into the night getting the ground ready for the foundation and concrete forms. We were joined by troops from McConnell Air Force Base who all brought shovels & proudly donned hard hats & now famous blue t-shirts.

Bob was definitely the star of the show, directing the action and giving in interviews. He's excited to be able to build a home "at his pace."

The build site consists of several tents, cast trailers, work stations and, of course, the house. Spectator area will be open on Saturday - park at the Mel Hambelton Ford lot and get a free ride into the build site.

This house will come together very fast so even watching for an hour you'll see many changes.

Thanks to one of our 2 photographers, Courtney Cook, for these nighttime shots.

Happy Valentine's Day

We've had a busy 4 days starting with an awesome Pep Rally. We had cheerleaders, and a drum line to warm up the crowd. Bob even got up and had a very nice presentation about how and why he's involved. He also took the time to thank some of the key organizations & people who are a part of this project:

Mike Drumright, Randy Stovall, Mike Igo, David Shandy, Marlo Porter, Derek Lofgreen, Fenix Heating & Air, Fisher Lumber, Ruud Concrete, & Logix Insulated Concrete Forms, Adventure RV's, Il Primo Espresso Café, Wichita Area Builder's Association, Star Lumber, Kansas Lighting, and the Wichita Better Business Bureau. Additionally, Bob singled out these individuals for their contribution of time and talent thus far: Teajai Kimsey (Internet Idea Girl), Mike Mapes (David Hall Roofing), Kristen Ward (Farmer's Insurance), Darcie Oursler (AutoMasters), Shirley Harrold-Albright (Armstrong|Shank), Liz Willis-Henry, Tom Middlestadt, Cyndi, Christine & Marla (from Bob's office).

Then the Extreme Makeover crew was introduced to the city and Milan Vasic (Senior Producer) gave the history of the show. Not a dry eye in the house after Milan spoke.

Right from the Pep rally we were manning our booth at the Home Show through the weekend! It sure was busy there and the positive feedback from people visiting our booth was really nice to hear.

I also spent some time at the Extreme Makeover Booth at the show. We sold T-Shirts and signed up volunteers. And I have to say - We L O V E our volunteers & sponsors. If you haven't seen the growing list, please visit the resource page of our WichitaExtreme.com website. More are added daily.

This is a great week to show a family how much the community really does care. Coming on the heels of Valentine's day -- what better way to celebrate than to build a home!

Hope you will all come out and watch, looks like the weather will be cooperating.

Standing Room Only ~ We hope!

It's a busy week at Bob Cook Homes!

The Pep Rally is on Thursday and we're really hustling to make sure everything is ready. Today we met with the staff at Central Christian Church. It's a wonderful venue for the rally. Not a bad seat in the house!

The audio/visual staff were really great about meeting our needs and volunteering their services. The donation of the space is going to work out well for all of the people who attend. The photo was at the meeting this morning. Notice all the smiling faces! what a great way to start off the week.

We're also getting ready for Home Show. Can you believe it? Same week as the pep rally! But if you come to either the pep rally or the booth at the home show you'll find out more about the Extreme Makeover about to take place.

Also this week we're expecting to receive t-shirts that people can buy with a donation to the Extreme Makeover family. We sure appreciate Special T's and City Blue Print for coming in at short notice to deliver banners and tee shirts for the Pep Rally.

If you want to see a more current list of sponsors (and it changes daily!) please visit the sponsor area of the Extreme Makeover website. And if you see any of these folks or happen to do business with any of these companies, tell you saw their logo / listing on our site.

We hope to see you all on Thursday! And if you haven't volunteered yet - there's no time like the present :)

PS - Listen to Bob Cook on Kissin 96FM around 8:45 Thursday morning.

Will the groundhog be predicting an extreme weather situation for Extreme Makeover?

Due to begin building in mid February, if the Groundhog sees his shadow it could mean we'll be in for some wintery weather for that whole week. Of course with temperatures in the 70's just a couple of days ago - we never know.

Around the office we've been lining up our volunteers, planning a fundraiser and a pep rally. The products, services and people it takes for just these two events is huge! If you haven't volunteered yet, please consider lending a hand (or 2, or 4). Also, if you want to donate something to the silent auction we'll be having at the fundraiser that would be great as well. We're looking for valuable gifts, services etc. that can bring in high bids. We hope to earn enough at the fundraiser to pay off a mortgage or set up a home maintenance/tax fund.

We've added more to our core "behind the scenes" team and we would like to take this brief opportunity to recognize:

• Shirley Albright (Armstrong|Shank),
  
• Elizabeth Willis Henry ,
  
• Tom Middlestadt (Props & Design),
  
• Lisa Nelson (Derby Recreation),
  
• Teajai Stradley & Chris Keefer (Internet Marketing Strategies –Ideas That Work),
  
• Mike Drumright (Drumright Builders, LLC),
  
• Tasha Brackeen (Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc),
  
• Kristen Ward (Farmers Insurance),
  
• Darcie Ousler (Automasters Collision),
  
• Scott Ruud (Ruud and Son) and
  
• Derek Lofgreen (Landmark Home Improvement, LLC)

These folks are helping us put together a miracle to build a dream.

We have also been gathering our sponsors and adding them to the website and putting information about these great company donations on our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. If you want to get in on some of the day to day posts on Twitter, follow #emict.

As we get closer to the big day we'll be adding some behind the scenes photos and we'll be recognizing all of the individuals and companies that are a part of this very Extreme Makeover.