Recap: Surprise

Jessa and Jinger are getting ready for a photo shoot that Jinger will have. They ended up picking the Thorncrown chapel. If you remember that is the same place where Ben and Jessa got engaged in August 2015.
Sierra and Joy head to a friend's house who makes sugar cookies. The girls bake a few batches for a baby shower that they are having for Kristen.
The family says that Joy Anna lives up to her name as she is both joyful and will tell you how it is.
Joy Anna was born in the middle of eight brothers.  They all are very protective of her as guys have come through for a courtship.
The boys get started on the tree house for the little kids. All the older kids are excited for this dream of theirs.
John David reveals his plans for the future as he is getting ready for the future.
Anna and Joy gather the little kids to find out where Jenny's glasses. Joy thinks that Jenny hid the glasses on purpose since she doesn't like wearing them.
The older girls bring Meredith and Spurgeon to Thrift store to buy things for the fort. What is a shopping trip without looking for clothes.
Jim Bob and Michelle headed to Derick and Jill's house in Central America. They headed to a local village to deliver food.
Jessa and Sierra head to the spa with Kristen why Joy, Jana and Jinger to get the baby shower all set up. The party was a success.

Duggar girls!

Top: Jessa, Jana, Anna, Amy, Joy Anna, Jinger, Jill
Button: Josie, Mackynzie, Jordyn-Grace, Jennifer, Johannah

It's been a while since the Duggar girls got a photo together besides Jessa's wedding. Cousin Amy had gotten married about a week ago and the girls wanted a photo with their cousin.

Amy is the oldest granddaughter of Grandma Duggar. Anna is married to Josh

 

Recap: Nesting and Room re-do

Now that the girls are down to seven in their room, they decided that it's time to remodel their room. They have had the same color in their room for almost ten years. They decided that it's time to give a more mature feel. Cindy comes up to help the family. They decided that they want to do a burnt orange, dark and light gray for paint colors.
Jim Bob says that the girls room is his favorite because it's bright and cheerful. He tries to convince the girls to leave the painted tree and horses. The girls want to cover them up.
Josh and Anna pack up their kids to head for their first appointment with their midwife. This is the first baby of the family to be born in DC. Josh and Anna are nervous about not having the family around for the birth.
Jessa and Jill head to get baby dilly's room all ready. Michelle says that she is super excited for Jill's first child.
 Grandma Duggar and Jana are taking care of the youngest ones while their parents are in Chicago for a meeting. Josie has a fever and along with a seizure. Jana and Scott carry out the information by the dispatcher that Grandma Duggar is on the phone with. Josie is taken to the hospital with her older sister. Jim Bob and Michelle were worried about their daughter made it home as soon as they could.
   Due to the fact that she was born early, Josie has had a lot of seizures which are cause by her temperature spikes up.
The next day Josie is happy to be in her parents arms and is doing great. Jana is happy to have her mom and dad back.

three grandbabies in one year

For ten weeks, the girls were all pregnant at the same time. Jill was at the end of her pregnancy when Jessa found out that she was pregnant.

Jill- due March 2015 but gave birth on April 6, 2015
Anna- due July 2015
Jessa-due November 2015

Preview: Birthing Class and Teamwork

Back to the grind, Michelle and the little ones take dog Bubba for a bath. Joy delegates chores now that Jill and Jessa are out of the house. Anna sews up a present for the newlyweds, Jessa and Ben while Jill and Derick attend their first birthing class.

Preview: Wedding Prep and Pies

Jason and James create a special recipe for the rehearsal dinner, but will Jessa and Ben be on board with their culinary creations? Ben designs the perfect wedding ring for Jessa while the girls visit a local florist for their Duggar-sized wedding party.

Jordyn and Jinger's birthday trivia

We decided to put Jordyn and Jinger's birthday trivia in this week's weekly birthday trivia.

1. How old was Jinger when Jordyn was born?

2. How old was Jordyn when Josie was born?

3. How old was Jinger when Josie was born?

4. Was Jordyn born on her due date?

5. Was Jinger in Josh, Jill and Jessa's wedding?

November is over!

It's been a busy month for the Duggar family as they welcomed a new son-in-law into the family. Derick and Jill are now 23 weeks pregnant with their first child. Josh and Anna gave us an update on their family. Justin and Jessa celebrated their birthdays.

Surprise!

Duggar trivia questions has returned! I know many of you have missed it!

1. How old was Josh when Jana and John were born?

2. How old was Jill when she got married?

3. How old was Jessa when she got married?

4. How many months has Derick and Jill been married?

5. Who was at Johannah's birth?

Answers will be given on Saturday!

Birthday trivia returns on December 9th!

19 kids and counting "Duggar Girls Go Glam"

The older Duggar girls head to Freshair Salon for hair and makeup styles for Jill's wedding. This is the first time that the girls go to Salons. They normally head to friends who can cut hair and do that for them. The girls get their hair curled and pull back. On the day of the wedding, they all decided to wear their hair curly and mostly down since it's Derick's favorite.

Jana reveals that she is not in a courtship right now. Joy Anna reveals that she doesn't want to enter a courtship right now. She turns 17 years old at the end of this month.

The girls head to try on bridesmaid dresses that are modest and will be able to wear for future events. The girls fall n love with the mint green dress and has to do additional dress to make sleeves and rise the neckline and length. The dresses cost around 30 bucks for each. Jana is the girls main seamstress even through the other girl are proficient at sewing. Jessa and Joy are still working on their sewing skills.

Anna and the kids are learning how to make healthy foods from a friend that they met at the market. For a snack they create, Meatball, grape, pineapple kabobs which Mackynzie and Michael fall in love with. Heather introduces finger potatoes cook in olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper along with green beans and squash; and salmon with peaches. Josh approves of the new cooking while the kids don't enjoy the squash but loves the rest.

instagram??

We have been asked if we have instagram?

We don't have instagram.

The duggars are on instagram
@Duggarfam

@ben_seewald

@joshduggar

@annaduggar

@jillmdillard

@derickdillard

@amyduggar

SOS ministries

Jessa, Jinger and Ben are heading down to Central America for the next 12 days on a mission trip to help SOS ministries. Many of the duggars have gone down to do mission trips for SOS. Josh and Jim Bob went down first and then Jim Bob felt God's calling to invite all of his children to go down since it would be a life changing experience.

Going the Distance for Love Preview

While Jill and Jim Bob are in Nepal, visiting with Derick Dillard, who has something important to ask Jim Bob, Michelle decides to spend time with Jessa and talk to her daughter about her courtship with Ben.

Jessa and Ben: Their story

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: How did your daughter Jessa meet Ben?

We met Ben when his family came to visit our church. Afterwards we invited their family over to our home for fellowship, as we often do with guests to our church. I think Ben spotted Jess, but he didn’t go up to her then. We’d met Ben’s parents years ago when we were in the Little Rock area while Jim Bob was serving in the legislature. We visited a church that they attended, so we did know their family in a roundabout way, just a distant friendship.

During fellowship at our home, Ben and Jim Bob would often sit with the guys and talk about doctrine and the Bible. At one point, Jim Bob said to Ben, "You know, you’ve been bringing up a lot of these truths from the scripture. This is a topic that we’ve actually been talking about in our home and Jessa has really been studying this very thing. You guys would probably enjoy talking about it. So why don’t you text her?"

It’s so funny. Jim Bob was the initiator. I don’t know if Jim Bob even knew that Ben was really interested in her, but he had already spotted Jessa. They started texting and talking about these scriptures and things just took off.

A few of our girls have had men come up to them and ask for their phone numbers. And our daughters have always explained to them that if anybody asked for their phone numbers, they would tell them to ask their dad. Then they would give them Jim Bob’s phone number. Sometimes the guy would never call and other times they would, but the girls would quickly let Jim Bob know if there was an interest on their part. Jim Bob is the "no" man.

He doesn’t mind being that guy and he’ll always use these calls as an opportunity to encourage those young men in their walk with Christ. A lot of times that weeds out the young men. Either they’ve got a spiritual focus or they don’t.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post! Or catch up with all of Michelle's Blogs.

Recap: A duggar say yes

In this week's episode of 19 kids and counting, Ben and Jessa give us a look inside of their courtship and how their relationship began. Ben and Jessa met at the Duggar family church. Jessa and Ben exchanged phone numbers to get to know each other. Ben decided to get the premission of Jim Bob and Michelle to court their daughter before asking Jessa.
Ben is 18 years old and lives in Hot Springs, Arkansas with his parents and six younger brothers and sisters. He owns his own business which is a windshield repair and is a freshman at National Park Community College. Jessa told us that Ben is tall, dark and handosme which was pretty much what was on her list of what she wanted to marry.
Jim Bob and Michelle along with 17 of their children revealed their sister as an energetic, strong-willed child. They also told us that she likes to tell it how it is, loyal to her family and friends. She tries to keep a good handle on her emtions. John David reveals that his sister is opinionated.
Jim Bob and Michelle make the announcement that their daughter is courting to the rest of the family right after it's becomes offical. Jim Bob and Michelle talk to the new couple that just because they are courting doesn't mean that they have to be maried really fast. Jim Bob joking suggest that they wed about four or five years down the road. He just wants his daughter and Ben to work on building their relationship on trust and God's love.
Later on the show, Jim Bob and the boys want to clean up some yard work and what better way to test Ben's character about taking care of their sister. They have him come out and help.
Meanwhile Jessa and the girls are busy getting ready for dinner. Michelle wants to help encourage Jessa on cooking since Jessa thinks that she is a bad cook. After the boys are finished, it's time for dinner. Jim Bob and Michelle asked Johannah to stand between Jessa and Ben since they just started the courthip and have decided to wait on the physical until they are married.
Jessa and Michelle are heading to Hot Springs to visit Ben's family members so they can get to know the other family. Jessa and the older girls are upstairs packing. They want to spend a lot of time together since they might be soon be leaving if God is wanting that.
Jill and the other girls know that marriage is not going to happen in age order because God works in his own time and not what we want him to work. Jinger and Jessa have always been close since they are 14 months apart. Jinger thinks that it's bittersweet since her sister is in a courtship and might be leaving.
John David filies his mom and sister down to where Ben lives. Ben drives a truck which only has the front seat and that means that Michelle has to sit in the middle to protect the new couple's relationship.
Ben and Jessa are going on a date with Ben's parents and so Michelle watches the kids while they go out so Ben's parents can get to know her daughter. Jessa and Michelle get to meet Ben's extended family when they come over for BBQ and fellowship.
Back home while Jessa and Michelle are away, Jim Bob takes care of the youngest girls. Jim Bob takes the kids to pizza and ask them what they think of Ben which has nothing but good things.
Jim Bob asked his daughter, Jennifer, about if she has plan to married some day and she doesn't have any plans.
Jim Bob thinks that both Jessa and Jill's coursthips will bring more guys forward to seek the older duggar girls and maybe even some of the boys.
* This is the first time that there has not been an opening of all of the family. *

A duggar says yes

When Ben and Jessa's courtship becomes official, the Duggar boys put Ben to the test. Later, the tables are turned on Jessa when she visits Ben's hometown. The whole family reflects on what it means that a Duggar daughter may soon be leaving the nest.

"Growing Up Duggar" Book Tour

The duggar girls book is scheduled March 4, 2014. Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger are heading to PA (March 12)  and TN  (March 17) to signed their first book that the girls wrote together.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014, 7-9pm
Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar to sign books at Barnes & Noble Booksellers
58 South 32nd Street, Camp Hill, PA 17011
Questions? Call 717-737-0221



Monday, March 17, 2014, 7pm
Jana, Jill, Jessa, and Jinger Duggar to sign books at Barnes & Noble Booksellers
2100 Hamilton Place Boulevard, Chattanooga, TN 37421
Questions? Call 423-893-0186

Jessa and Ben's first Valentine's day!

Jessa and Ben are celebrating their first Valentine's d
ay. We kinda hope to see that their engagement to happen but who knows.

We are not saying that they are engaged right now!

Happy Valentine's day blog

Michelle Duggar on Celebrating Valentine's Day

FAMILY MATTERS on 02.12.14

Michelle Duggar19 Kids and CountingBIO

 

Question from a "19 Kids and Counting" fan on Facebook: How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day in your house? Is it just you and Jim Bob or does the whole family celebrate together?

We often celebrate Valentine’s Day as a family. It’s a really special time with the whole family getting around the table and spending time together. Last year, our older daughter, Jana, decided she was going to do a big Valentine’s banquet for our family. We had a beautiful spread on our table; everything was pink, red and white. We took pictures and made a special event of it. It was our way of expressing our gratefulness and our love for each other and the family, and celebrating how much family means to us. It’s so important to nurture that relationship. It was a day of love and fun and fellowship for the whole family.

Of course a lot of times for Valentine’s Day, Jim Bob and I will go on a date, but one of our favorite things to do as a family is to help throw a banquet for the single moms that we know. We want to bless the single moms; those that are widowed, divorced or abandoned, the women that are often forgotten during Valentine’s time.

My dear friend Debbie Query and her daughters teach our children music -- all the music ability that the kids have in violin is because of them. Debbie is a widow with four children; their father was tragically killed in a car accident. They have been amazing mentors and role models especially for my older girls.

Anyway, their family does an amazing widow’s banquet. They put it on, and our family participates in that. The children set the tables and serve as the waiters. They’ll put on black bowties, white shirts, black pants, and serve the meal. Sometimes we’ll have harpists or other musicians play beautiful music during the banquet. It’s very special.

Have a burning question for Michelle Duggar? Send it to her and it could appear in an upcoming post!

flea market finale

Jim Bob and Michelle called their kids to the living room to talk about their flea market and the goal of raising one. When Michelle announces how much money they want to raise 10,000 dollars. Jinger doesn't know if that can be done. They have five days to get it all done.

The first day, Jim Bob and Michelle headed to a local radio station to promote the market.

The second day, the family is trying to get more things by hosting a drop off location.

Three day, Michelle has the little girls paint signs while the older girls cook some cookies. while the boys organize the stuff under the tents.

Two days before- the girls head outside to make sure that everything looks neat. Michelle manages to find a pair of Josie baby shoes and she admits that she misses having a baby in the house. Jessa convinced her mom that they are going to be with another baby girl.

The night before, jinger checks out all the shirts and grabs a couple of her favorite shirts and claim them hers.

Right before the event, the family gets a big surprise when Josh comes with his wife and children complete surprising them and helps out with the market.

The family has everything from a live action, bake sale, concession and a carnival which allows the buyer to dunk a duggar. Michelle heads around to tally up how much is earn which Josie reveals at the end.

The girls raise 80 dollars on hairbows and ping pong while the boys raised 122 dollars on their knives.

At the end of the event Michelle reveals that they raised 18,471.50 clearly beating their doubles.

Michelle and Jim Bob have an announcement to make..... Jessa is courting a young man named Ben.