Thursday, 19 October

i was able to be a VIP this morning! it was sooooo fun! i saw ed sanders... he said hi to ME! really, i was the only one around and he looked straight at me and said hello! i took lots of pics!

here is thursday's log from kartchnerhomes.com:

Hey, Cache Valley and loyal fans of the show, the Pauni house is quickly transforming into a home. The framing was completed late last night. The early morning hours were spent putting the siding, rock and wood on the exterior of the home.
Beginning at 4 this afternoon, 80 Utah State University landscape architecture students will donate their time and skills to create a gorgeous yard fit to compliment this dream home. And, like the construction crews, they will accomplish in two days what it usually takes three weeks to finish.
Designer Ed Sanders had a lot to say about the family, the community and the home. Asked about his favorite aspect of the show, Ed said that “It’s hard to say. There are so many, but, first, it’s about the family. However, we could not do this without the volunteers.”
Ed added that “of the eighty some ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ episodes,” Logan, Utah is only the second city to throw a benefit concert for the family. This is just another way for a community to show its support for its well-deserving neighbors.
When we asked Ed if there was anything in particular about this episode that sets it apart from the rest, he said that “the sheer size and scope of this beautiful house makes this episode stand out.”
"Kartchner Homes has gone above and beyond the call of duty,” he added. And, it seems, that just about every Cache Valley resident is doing the same.
In just 48 hours, spectators, volunteers, and the veritable army of construction and skilled workers have witnessed what the speed and power of community involvement is already accomplishing. The excitement continues to build to a crescendo which will certainly echo throughout Cache Valley on Sunday when the Pauni family’s new home is revealed.
Meanwhile, the community campaign continues. And, we know that Utah’s residents – proud of its number one rank in the nation for community service and volunteer efforts –continue to answer the call. There’s still time and remember every donation or service project, no matter how large or small, counts in the small valley with a big heart!
Thursday Evening
Television cannot possibly document all the hard work and dedication it takes to pull off such an incredible project.
The totally focused production and construction crews working round the clock may seem like super heroes but even super heroes have to eat. And to keep the crews going at “battle speed,” Cache Valley restaurants have donated plenty of food. The crews are fed four times a day and are never short of snacks.
An estimated three hundred people are fed breakfast, lunch, dinner and a 10 p.m. snack. And, between the meals, there are sandwiches. “We are doing everything we can to keep our crews happy and energetic,” Andi Saxton, director of food services, said.
On the site you will see volunteers constantly carrying around baskets of food and energy drinks to the workers. Volunteers also dutifully pick up what remains after a crowd of three hundred trumps in and out of the food tent four-plus times a day.
What we have seen behind the scenes is plenty of good old-fashioned Utah generosity. It seems almost impossible to explain the absolute scramble and rush of volunteers and workers. In this Logan neighborhood, everybody and everything is moving at Mach-like speed.
This spirit of generosity has infused everybody. A little girl came to the site as a spectator and asked where she could take her money. We looked down and this young girl had $400 in her hands! She said she sold plates of cookies around her neighborhood and we thought, wow, she must have sold a lot of cookies. The young contributor said, “Well, I charged fifteen bucks a plate for them.” A smart cookie! (pun definitely intended!)
It’s no longer just a housing construction project. With each hour, it is looking like a dream home, especially as a crew of young, energetic landscapers began their work this evening. The crowds seem to grow well into the evening hours. Two hundred fifty or three hundred spectators at any one moment is a conservative estimate. Even at 3 or 4 a.m., there is a hardy corps of 30 or so bystanders, eagerly absorbing this incredible metamorphosis. Even when one of the well-known designers walks by, the crowd erupts immediately into cheers.
Anyone who enters Cache Valley is instantly treated like family. And, when the community heard that it was Ty’s birthday, a birthday cake, balloons, and cards showed up at the construction site. Like we said before, everybody is always welcome in Cache Valley.
Please keep up the good work. Even as the weekend approaches, much is left to be done and let’s all of us stretch even a little more to help the well-liked Pauni family.