The famous phrase “Move that bus,” was screamed last week by a Chillicothe native’s son, Chris Hampton.
Chris and his family, wife Niki, son Dakota and daughter Hannah, along with nieces and nephews, Gage, Kira, Lexi and Jacob were chosen to appear on ABCs Extreme Makeover: Home Edition after Chris’ mother, Cathie Hampton, Chillicothe native and 1971 CHS graduate nominated the family for the show.
After speaking with a spokesperson from ABC, Cathie soon found out that 15 others had also nominated the family for a new home.
“This kind of stuff doesn’t happen to you,” stated Cathie. “It happens to other people. That’s why it’s so unbelieveable when it’s your own children.”
The Hamptons, living in Ash Grove, a small Missouri town northwest of Springfield, were staying in an 800 square-foot, one bedroom, one bath home with their two children. Then on a fateful night in March 2007, Chris and Niki received a call from social services giving them an hour to decide whether or not to take on their four nieces and nephews.
The family did not hesitate and immediately said “yes” to their new extended family.
“When they got the children they were in diapers and bottles and only got them with the clothes on their back,” Cathie Hampton recalled. “So that first trip to Wal-Mart was a biggie.”
The Hamptons then had to turn their dining room into a bedroom for all three boys where a set of bunk beds were set up. Another set of bunk beds went up in the utility closet where the three girls slept. Being an older house, there were also no closets. Mother Cathie estimated the family had around 47 plastic tubs stacked floor to ceiling in each room housing all of their clothes and belongings.
Life became a little easier though on Tuesday, July 14, 2009. Ty Pennington from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition arrived on the Hamptons’ doorstep to let them know they had been chosen to receive a new home............
Chillicothe, Mo. —
