Family Thanks Community For 'Extreme Makeover' Home

LYME, N.H. -- The Marshall family, of Lyme, is settling into their new home, which was built by volunteers and craftsmen for the ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

For the first time since getting their new home, the Marshalls spoke Tuesday about the outpouring of help from volunteers and how their time away from New Hampshire helped them come together."

The bus moved, and probably if you had pinched me, I wouldn't have felt it because it wasn't real," said mother Elena Marshall. "It was so amazing."For all the excitement of getting a new home, the Marshalls said they slept soundly in New Hampshire, exhausted from a Walt Disney World visit the show provided.

"For the whole family to be in the same place, watching fireworks at Disney, that's special," said father Jay Marshall.

"It was so wonderful," Elena Marshall said. "There were ups there, were downs, but it was an experience we haven't had an opportunity to have.

"The gifts kept on coming for the Marshalls, including new bikes and ski passes to New Hampshire resorts. A huge poster put together by children in Lyme got an emotional reaction from Elena Marshall, who whispered that it was "beautiful.

"Photos also now show the moment when the Marshalls got a chance to meet actor Patrick Dempsey. Daughter Olivia now has a picture of him placed next to her new bed.

"I saw that," she said. "Sweet dreams tonight."But for everything they received, the family said they wished they could have chipped in with the project. Son Beau Marshall said he hoped the outpouring of generosity would inspire others.

"You tell one or two people about it, and hopefully then they'll do the same thing, and eventually it spreads throughout the world," he said.The Be+ charity (pronounced "Be Positive") also benefited from the show. The fund was started by son Cameron Marshall to raise money for Children's Hospital at Dartmouth. Donations raised in the past week totaled more than $77,000.

Above information courtesy of www.wmur.com