Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Helps Family With Adopted Kids  12/26/05

"EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION" GIVES TWO COMPASSIONATE PARENTS COMMITTED TO ADOPTING CHILDREN IN NEED A HOME AS BIG AS THEIR HEARTS

Country Music Star Brad Paisley Performs at the Rodeo in Colorado Springs, CO

"Barrett Family" - Billy Jack and Anne Barrett and their extended family of adopted children in Peyton, CO, are the latest to receive an "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," in an episode airing SUNDAY, JANUARY 1 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on ABC. (Rebroadcast. OAD: 10/2/05)

Billy Jack and Anne have always had a knack for challenges - it used to be for handling disobedient horses when they were working in the equestrian business as real life "horse whisperers." Now it's raising and adopting children deemed "unmanageable" and "un-adoptable" according to the Colorado Department of Human Services which claims that these are the children no one wants.

Dusty (15), Daphne (14), AJ (13), and Jennifer (14) were four kids who had gone from one foster home to another and suffered mental and behavioral problems stemming from abuse. No one could handle them - these children were out of control. But Anne and Billy Jack really thought they could work with these kids, as they had with hundreds of horses in the past. They became mentors and, soon after, parents. With unending amounts of love, patience and discipline, Dusty, Daphne, AJ and Jennifer have become healthy and productive members of the Barrett family.

But now with growing teenagers, in addition to the Barretts' two biological kids, Rebecca (13) and Clara (11), the four-bedroom farmhouse with only one and a half bathrooms is getting too tight for eight people. In addition, Anne quit her job to home-school the four adopted children, as each of them is behind academically and emotionally. Billy Jack and Anne would like to take in more kids in need, but can't because of space and the Colorado law which states that the household has reached the limit for the number of children allowed per bedroom.

With the help of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and their team of contractors, the Barrett family will now have a bigger house that all their children can enjoy, as well as the opportunity to adopt more kids who never really had a home.

Also country music star Brad Paisley performs his song, "He Didn't Have to Be," at the Pike's Peak or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs, CO.

While the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" design team, contractors and hundreds of workers and volunteers are transforming the Barrett's house into a dream home with enough space for everyone in a remarkable nine days, the family will vacation in Waikiki, Hawaii.

The design team for this episode of consists of team leader Ty Pennington, Eduardo Xol, Ed Sanders, Constance Ramos and Michael Moloney. The series is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. It's executive-produced by Tom Forman and co-executive produced by Denise Cramsey. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. This program carries a TV-PG parental guideline.

Source: ABC Press Release