DECATUR — All that’s missing Tuesday is a bus and someone shouting at the driver to move it.

“Overwhelmed” Midwest Home Energy Makeover winner Jaime Stone-McEnaney, 35, thought she had a pretty good grasp of the surprises which lifted her spirits.

The first sign there might be more going on at her house of four years on C.R. 215 than meets the eye came upon returning from a ruse breakfast and finding it overrun with black-shirted Team Midwest members, her yard filled with delivery trucks, tipping her “they’re up to something again.”

Her kitchen bloomed with a bouquet of red bows festooning gleaming new EnergyStar appliances — a range, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator and washer-dryer.

She and her husband, Steve, had to work and missed the invigorating $28,500 invasion which even put in their new fridge turkey and pumpkin pies.

“Oh, wow,” she said, “This is just amazing. This has already made a huge difference because we have heat in the house. We’ve had the geothermal a couple of weeks. We knew about the refrigerator, so we were already excited about that. I can’t really describe it. It’s a shock. Happiness. Words can’t really explain it. I’m going to have a long list of thank-you notes to write.”

With their energy savings, “Maybe we can plan a trip somewhere,” she said. “We don’t get to take too many vacations. Midwest gave us our first one in a lot of years, going to Safari Joe’s. We’re all a little overwhelmed, so bear with me. I’ve invited my family over (for Thanksgiving) because we have heat now. Now we have dinner, too.”

Both of the couple are givers — she as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and firefighter and he with the Michigan National Guard Armory in Dowagiac — and the kind of proud people who don’t want a handout even when it became clear from a series of setbacks that they needed a helping hand up from the mat.

Their troubles began last summer with torrential rain which swamped their basement, irreparably damaging their fuel oil furnace.

In October, Jaime’s work-related injury to her forearm, shoulder and neck sidelined her from EMT work.

The McEnaneys faced winter blasts armed only with electric space heaters which, with her background in firefighting and safety education probably made Jaime shiver more than the weather.

“It was the worst feeling in the world,” she said. “I spent so much time educating others on safety and helping families through difficult situations resulting from home fire, I knew this was a danger to my whole family.”

But fate wasn’t done yet dealing setbacks, for in December Steve, who works in Stevensville, was laid off from his tree contractor position.

To alleviate their anxiety about relying on space heaters through a Michigan winter, they buttressed their defenses with fire extinguishers and smoke detectors, since they had to run heaters constantly to keep pipes thawed.

“I prayed every time we left the house,” Jaime said.

Besides safety concerns, space heaters were so inefficient warming their 1,200-square-foot home.

Electric consumption erupted. Using 4,500 kilowatt hours last January meant a Midwest power bill of more than $500 that they couldn’t afford any more than a new furnace. Decatur Human Services helped.

No strangers to hard times, they always coupled facing such challenges while continuing to help others.

Steve served in the Army from 1993 to 2002 and was deeply affected by his volunteer work with children while in Bosnia during 1996-97.

He came home to civilian life a changed man.

Jaime’s plate contained her own challenges.

Nephew Tommy, then 4 and now 12, was removed from his home and placed in foster care.

She fought for custody and was granted co-guardianship status with her mother.

As a result, her parents, Annette and Jim, moved into the apartment Jaime had rented. With their health issues, their presence was a comfort to their daughter as well as a support system for Tommy and Jaime.

Jaime bought the Decatur house in 2006 and met Steve through an online social network.

They married in 2007.

Her difficult pregnancy included gestational diabetes. The McEnaneys’ son, Stevie, arrived in 2008.

Mounting medical bills combined with educational loans and other debts they brought into their union were a hardship on the young family.

“From the beginning we struggled every day with finances,” Jaime says in the two-page spread the Cassopolis-based co-op published in the November-December issue of Country Lines magazine. “But we realized how blessed we were for what we did have and did our best to give back in the ways that we could,” just as she vows to “pay forward” the Thanksgiving largess.

More challenges came their way.

Stevie was diagnosed with autistic characteristics, which makes the presence and support of her parents even more meaningful.

Last spring Jaime spotted the promotion for the Midwest Home Energy Makeover.

She prayed for such a miracle which could set them back on their feet.

With everything else they dealt with — including Steve’s National Guard deployment to Afghanistan in 2011 and Jaime trying to finish her associate degree with her health issues — the furnace faded from the front burner of their many concerns, although it was never far away, either.

So she wrote a nomination letter to Midwest:

“Our family needs help! I am an EMT, but have been off work since October 2009 for a work-related injury. My husband, Steve, does tree service and Michigan National Guard, but has been laid off the tree service since December 2009. We were recently told that he will be deployed. My husband and I take care of our 2-year-old son (Stevie) and my nephew who was abused at age 4 (Thomas, he’s 12 now), both of my parents (Annette, diabetic/Jim several medical problems, seven cats (Feisty, Slick, Momma, Pepper, Chewy, Stripes and Fuzzy, all but two were strays), two dogs (Sparky and Lucky Blue, both abused) and a hamster (Whiskers).

“Steve and I have been trying to make the home more energy efficient, especially after our January 2010 bill of over $500. It’s hard! We have very little income and our home is falling apart. Last year our basement flooded for the first time, causing damage to the furnace. We now have mold in the basement due to this. We haven’t had the money to fix the furnace, but have been trying to clean the mold. We’ve been using floor heaters for heat this last winter, which has brought our electric bill up extremely high. We have a window air conditioner and fans to cool us off in the summer. The electrical box looks as if it’ll start on fire at any time. Our windows have a constant breeze coming through them. We had estimates done on most of the items last year, including the roof, so they could be fixed this year, but with the employment changes we just cannot do it!

“Why do we deserve the makeover, you may ask?” Jaime wrote. “For over 12 years I have dedicated my life to others. I am an EMT, a certified firefighter, a certified police reserve officer and I teach children about being safe. My husband has served his country through four combat tours and will be doing it once again in May. Our lives are about helping others as much as we can and teaching our children to do the same. We’re very proud individuals and it’s difficult to ask for help, especially when we’re used to helping others. So if you would please help us make our home safe and energy-efficient, our family would greatly appreciate it … I know it’s going to be a difficult task of choosing who deserves this makeover. God Bless!”