Recap: A New Life

 Kendra is just two weeks away from welcoming baby #3. Jessa and Joy come over to help her with some last minute items together for the nursery. Due to COVID-19, Kendra will only be allowed to have two people with her when she gives birth. She chooses Joseph and her mother.

Kendra reveals that she leans on her faith when she has difficult parenting moments while Joy says that she has been studying fruits of the spirit which has been helpful.

Michelle and some of the young moms lead the kids decorating hats for Easter. Later, Jim Bob and Michelle sit down with Ben, Jessa, Joseph, Kendra, John-David and Abbie to sit down to talk about the true meaning of Easter. Jim Bob starts with some encouraging words for Joe and Kendra. Jim Bob shares that he feels like yesterday that they were expecting their second and third child. He says that it feels that you can go pretty quick from there. Once you have three, you add fourth and the fifth child and it's no big deal.

The couples take turns about how their faith in Christ has changed their lives.

Michelle says that she was 15 when she really heard that she could be forgiven. Ben reveals that he was at the same age as Michelle. Jessa was 12 when she thought about eternity. She reveals that she and Jana did not get along well.

The group gathers around Joe and Kendra to pray over the delivery and the baby. Kendra ends up going into labor just 10 days before her due date which was March 1st. She is admitted to the hospital around 4pm. The baby arrives around 8pm. The couple names her Brooklyn Praise Duggar. Her birthday is February 19th which is the same day as Michelle's mother's birthday.

Later, Jessa is going to dye some Easter eggs with her children. Jessa reveals that they will bring them to the house where they will make angel eggs. If you don't know, Michelle has chosen to change the name from deviled eggs to angel eggs. They also made empty tomb rolls by rolling up a marshmallow in butter and cinnamon. They roll that into a piece of crecent dough.

Some of the family gathers for Easter Brunch. Joe and Kendra bring baby Brooklyn over as well. Kendra reveals that Garrett has adjusted pretty well to Brooklyn while Addie is still struggling so they are working through it right now.

Recap: Duggars in Quarantine

Part 1
The family is discussing how they have been impacted during the early stages of Covid-19 pandemic. Jana reveals that Arkansas is still open while California closed down.
Ben says that he is an optimist by nature and there were times that he would start to worried about it. Jessa says that she is very familiar with grocery pickup but it has been hard to get time slots. She ends up having to go to the store.
Jessa reveals that she has gained five pounds and ended up buying ice cream. Ben is currently in his last six weeks of school and it has been hard to stay home and study instead of going to coffee shops.
With the limits at the stores has been hard for the big house since Michelle has to order things every three days and they have learned to go without certain things. Ben ends up having to video chat with some the kids since he is teaching. Arkansas is encouraging the residents to limit their gatherings to 10 people but since Jim Bob and Michelle still have over 13 children living under the roof, they have been doing a lot of sanitizing.
Michelle says that they can identify with a lot of the challenges that the world is having with homeschool. She says that it's not easy but there is a lot of effort and patience that comes with it. Jim Bob says that it's a very interesting time for their nation as families are spending more time and might be getting on each other's nerves after a while.
Since Jeremy and Jinger live in LA, they have been in quarantined for a month. They have managed to pass the time by playing in the backyard and taking walks around the neighborhood. Jeremy ends up having to study at home so it makes it hard for Jinger to keep Felicity from disturbing him. John and Abbie are setting up a garden while Grace sleeps in her bassinett. Abbie also talks about how it would be different for her if she still worked as a nurse. She would have to chose between working or staying at home with Grace.
Jana plans to do an art lesson with the four youngest sisters in the greenhouse. Josie covers her paper with blue paint which causes Jana to tell her that she is done and go wash her hands.
Later, the whole family gathers for a family fun night. Jim Bob and Michelle host a trivia questions and ask about the family and random questions. Jim Bob says that he is very generous with the points.
Joy says that she is very particular when it comes to the points and her dad was acting like everyone is a winner and she has to say no, not everyone is a winner.
Anna and her kids end up winning the trivia. Each of the couples share a little close up with the youngest granddaughters of the family.

Part 2: Still Growing: La La Land
Shorty after last season of Counting On, Jeremy and Jinger get ready for their road trip. Michelle spends one on one time with her granddaughter before she leaves. They reveal that they are going to make stops since it's a long drive. Jinger reveals that her daughter likes to move and not sit still.
The family talks about the road trips that they used to take with all of the family. Jinger says that there were break downs and lots of stops.
Jeremy, Jinger, Ben and Jessa talk about drives with little ones and they are not good ones. Ben and Jessa say that Spurgeon had thrown up and everything was destory in which that they needed to get new seat and outfit. Jeremy and Jinger reveal that they do not have a back up seat cover for Felicity.
At Ben and Jessa's house, Jessa and the boys are making breakfast. Jessa says that the boys play well together about 50% precent of the time. The couples give updates about the boys and Ivy. Ben shares his plans with his beard to start fresh. He decides to surprise the boys. Ben tries to do Scottish-irish accent but it was different. The boys are thrown off by a bit but later learn that it is Ben. Spurgeon says that he likes the beard on Ben and wants it back.
Back on the road, Jeremy and Jinger arrive in New Mexico and head to see the ailens that were in area 51. They had fun.
Joseph and Kendra are preparing for baby #2 and updating Garrett's car seat. They set up the car seat and learn that they have to get a new seat for the baby girl. Kendra figures that the bbaby could be here in about three weeks. Kendra says that it might be harder to keep up with Garrett. Jim Bob says that they used a lot of strollers and then went to a simple strollers.
Austin and Joy head up to lay a brick for baby Annabel. Joy reveals that the day that she learn that their daughter's passing. It was really hard for the couple. Austin reveals that since Joy was so far along, they had to go to the hospital and be admitted to have her.  Joy reveals that Annabell's name is one of her nicknames. Austin and Joy plant a tree in remember their daughter.
Jeremy and Jinger head to Las Vegas and go to the strip. Jeremy has not been in Las Vegas before but Jinger has. Jeremy thinks that they will have two day drive. While in Vegas, Jeremy has decided to do a jump and Jinger is scared.
Jeremy says that he is a pool decision maker but does end up jumping and says that it was awesome. Jinger says that she doesn't want to it. She was happy that he was okay and doesn't want to go back.
John and Abbie are about to reveal the gender of their first child. John says that it had to be different since pregnancy reveals and gender reveals have been used. They have decided that they are going to do a plane.
Jeremiah is flying the plane with numbers and everyone is excited. One of the numbers is 7 and other is a 3. Jeremiah got his license about eight months ago and he is nervous.
Jessa: is a girl
Josiah is a boy and a girl
Kendra thinks that it's a boy
Joseph says that Garrett wants more boys.
Michelle guesses a girl.
First number reveal was 82
The second number reveal that it was 7
The third number reveal is a 3
The number is 8273 which means is a baby girl!
Jeremy and Jinger made it to LA after five days of travel and make it to their new house which is all set up. Felicity is so happy.

January Recap

The family celebrated the birthdays of Jana, John, and Joseph. 

John and Abbie welcomed Grace Annette into the world on January 7th.

Addison, Bella, and Maryella turned two months old this month.

Recap: Marriage Bootcamp

Five out of the eight married couples are embarking on a marriage retreat at the lake house. The retreat is organized by Jim Bob and Michelle. Lauren's father is leading it. Jim Bob feels that it's important to have a strong marriage because it will make the family stronger. Joy is hoping to learn a lot while Austin reveals that he wants to get start actively investing into their marriage.

The first topic is communication. Jessa says that she needs to close her mouth so her husband can talk because she has learned that she tries to guess what her husband is saying. Kendra also talks more than her husband while Josiah admits that he talks more than Lauren. It's time for the challenge which involves walkie-talkies, blindfolds and boats. The Duggars love to make things competitive and Josiah wins it while Jessa admits that she struggle at giving direction. Austin ditches the paddles and uses his arms.

The second topic is compromise which Abbie grew up having structured while John did not. Kendra says that when you don't compromise, it will cause tension. The next challenge involves a nest building with marbles. Lauren says that she just lets her husband work through his own than nagging him. Lauren lays down on the couch due to a headache.

Joy says that Austin and her work together pretty good since they are always willing to listen to each other ideas. Ben and Jessa do their own thing which they do often in their lives.

On the last day of their retreat, Lauren is in bed since she is tired and nauseous. They have to write their wedding vows and stand up in front of everyone to say them again. Abbie admits that she was giddy and nervous the second time around. Joseph says that he was not as emotional as he was the first time. Josiah had filmed his to show Lauren later and kisses the phone screen.

John says that he is grateful of his parents because it was nice to come up there and have a retreat and reconnect.

Meanwhile, the Vuolos are preparing their moving sale. Jeremy says that he is looking forward to become minimalist because he is sentimental to his past. When the people start coming into the garage and he got caught up in it. Most of the shoppers don't speak English so they bring in a friend that can speak both.

The family says that Jim Bob is the best at negotiating. Jeremy admits that he is worst at it since he doesn't have the same skills. He lets paint cans go for 15 while Jinger says that they could go for double. The couple makes $379 for the sale.

Recap: Baby Number Two...But Who?

Jeremy and Felicity are out on the porch so Jeremy can paint. He lets Felicity paint something for Jinger for her first Mother's Day. Felicity manages to paint all over herself along with her mouth.

Ben and Jessa are waiting for their friend to arrive to their house so she can check out Henry's speech. Jessa is worried that she did something wrong. Jim Bob adds that he is thanksful for the experts that help children thrive. Henry is only two and says a few words. Ben says that his son can't express what he wants and just ends up screaming in hopes that his parents will figure out what he wants. Their friend determines that Henry is in the sixth percentile for speech and she wants to wait about six weeks to see how many words Henry can pick up.

Before Jeremy and Jinger move to LA, Joseph and Kendra bring Garrett for a visit. The goal is to get the house ready to be put on the market. The guys work on small repairs while the girls organize and gather items to sell or donate.

The family is asked who are the packrats and which ones are able to let things go:
Michelle reveals that she likes to let things go while her husband admits that he likes to keep things.

Joseph reveals that he is not a hoarder but he likes to accumulating.

Josiah reveals that his wife like to minimalist while he likes to fill a space if it's empty
Kendra asked Jinger if the couple is planning to have another child. Jinger reveals that she gets that question alot. At the end of the visit, Jeremy and Jinger take the little Duggar family out for dinner at Border Foundry. Everyone is dressed up while Kendra worries that her son is going to disrupt the peace.

Neither families are experience at the restaurants. Jeremiah thought that fine dinning was going inside instead of driving thru.

The owner gets appetizers and everyone tries the fired frog legs. They also tried to eat grasshopper without knowing it. None of them are eager to eat it again.

While at the Duggar home, the younger kids are taking chores as the older ones at work. Johannah says that it's more busy but sometimes chaotic.

The Duggars have many animals such as cows, ducks, chickens, rabbits, cats and dogs. Sadly the mother cow passed away after the mom had a calf named paco. Michelle and Anna, recently announced her 6th pregnancy, show the kids how to take care of Paco.

It's time for another family night at the Duggar home and everyone sits down to paint. Austin and Joy are getting ready to share that they are also expecting their second child. The family takes a moment before figuring out that there is a special announcement on the screen and is so happy for the news.

Recap: The Great Duggar Campout

On Mondays, the Duggars gather to do family nights and everyone is invited to come to the house for dinner and activity. Jim Bob reveals that now that the family is getting bigger that is harder to get to get together on a regular basis so these family fun nights have been a blast.
During this week, the family is going camping thanks to Jana. They arrive and drop off the boys to for map challenge while the girls set up camp and make dinner. They have to give up the phones to Jana.
The boys are almost at the end of their hike and have to cross the river. They try to use boards and tree trunks but the river is going to fast. Jim Bob makes it a little completion with trying to cross first but ends up into the river. They make it across with being a bit wet to the campsite.
Michelle is thankful to having the get together and has not been a dull moment.
Before the dinner, they pray and after Josiah and Lauren are about to make their big announcement. Lauren says that they have been trying for a while since the miscarriage and she is nine weeks along. She is due a week and half after Kendra. She also reveals that she is nervous.
The second morning, Jana has some team building exercises and make a frame with ropes attach where each family member has to maneuver the frame without letting the middle person fall.
The second game is a ski challenge and four to five people will stand on wooden skies have to move together in unison.
Jeremy and Jinger are looking for a new home before moving to LA. Jeremy is attending the Master Seminary and meet up with Barbara and Peter to look at apartments. They look at two apartments. The second one is reminding Jinger that they live in Europe.
The next day, they head to a detached home with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The property is used by the church and the owners are willing to lease it to the couple for a few months.
The couple head to a coffee shop to make a choice, the ministry house will require them to move twice but it's large and beautiful for them to start and choose it.

Recap: Who's the Most Romantic?

A few of the married couples arrived at the Duggar family home. Jessa is almost halfway done with her pregnancy with Ivy while Garrett is now eight months old. John and Abbie are currently enjoying being married while Josiah and Lauren are still grieving the lost of their first child. Lauren says that the miscarriage was heartbreaking and she still cry.
Jim Bob and Michelle feel that it's important for the couples to have a date night. Jim Bob and Michelle are going to watch the grandchildren while they are gone. The grandparents have decided to throw in some competition into the mix. There are a few rules that the couples must abide by, they have sixty dollars and have to stay within an hour from the Duggar home. They will also need to take photos, videos, and return home within four hours.
Jim Bob says that he can't remember the last time they had five diapers and had an assembly line going.
Joseph and Kendra went to a penny flipping date. At each light, they must flip a coin heads go right and tails gos left. On their last flip, they ended up at a gazebo and have a picnic.
Ben and Jessa head to KYYA chocolate factory. Ben says that they both love chocolate. After they are done at the chocolate factory, they walked outside and sit down by the lake to enjoy the chocolates that they just finished making.
Josiah and Lauren head to Fort Rock Family Camp, which their brother-in-law's family owns, to ride horses. Lauren reveals that she grew up doing this and enjoyed it with her husband.
John and Abbie head to the skies and play to win. They stop by a lake to enjoy a steak dinner. Jana says that many of the family doesn't see the romantic side of John and thinks that Abbie brought out the best of him.
During their dates, they talk about discussion questions that Jim Bob and Michelle gave them.
John opens up about Abbie's job and how it was 8 to 5pm. He also reveals that the Duggars are self-employed. Abbie reveals that they had a lot of conversations about finances but she trust her husband's choices.
Back at the home, Jim Bob is playing outside with a few of the Duggar children and grandchildren. Michelle has the little ones inside. Jim Bob revealed that his goal was to be a fun grandpa. Meredith and Spurgeon ended up biting each other. Spurgeon calls his cousin a bad girl and both end up in tears. Jim Bob talks about how biting is not allowed and tells the toddlers that he will let the parents.
Jeremy is currently in LA for a conference as Jinger and Felicity fly out to spend time with him. Jinger reveals that she is really excited about the move.
Jessa reveals that her sister has always loved the big city. She always love going to big city and hoped to move there one day. While most of the family love the country life, Ben reveals that he would also love living in the city.
Felicity is going to be a Cali girl and know that it's going to be an adjustment for them since the traffic and living cost are higer than what they are use to.
Back at the Duggar home, the grandparents look over the footage and announce the winners:
        Most romantic date: Joe and Kendra
        Thriftiest date: Josiah and Lauren
        Date we’d go on: Jessa and Ben
        Most original date: John-David and Abbie

Recap: A bachelor no more part 2

Be sure to check out part 1 of this recap that we posted last night!

It’s the morning of the wedding and Abbie’s friend comes to do her makeup while her sister, Maggie, is doing her hair. Her maid of honor is her sister, Hannah while John’s best man is his brother, Joseph. The wedding party is getting ready while the siblings are going to the hanger to finish it up before they get there.

John is told by the photographer to look like Zoolander and Blue Steel but the siblings don’t know who that is but Jeremy does know who he is.

John reveals that Abbie took his breath away the moment that he saw her walking down the aisle. Abbie saw him grinning from ear to ear.

After the pastor speaks, Abbie’s father officiates the vows that the bride and groom wrote. John reveals that he is glad that she gave him the nickname of sugar muffin which causes the siblings to think that it’s a little strange. Lauren reveals that Josiah calls her sugar baby.

It’s almost time for the first kiss and John ends up kissing a few other body parts like Abbie’s hand before getting to her lips. He had planned the first kiss and wanted to take his time and take it slow. He gave his wife a heads-up of what he is planning to do.

The siblings are asked about what they thought about the first kiss. Joseph says that it was a different method while Kendra says that it was their first kiss but a little awkward for her to watch. Lauren reveals that she just wanted her to kiss her on the lips but Jason was like get a room. Jinger says that no she will never forget.

A few of the couples decide to reenact their first kiss including Jim Bob and Michelle. They were joking about it.

During the reception, the newly married couple cut their cake and feed it to each other. Abbie says that they were thankful for everyone that came since they felt really loved. After celebrating for a while, they head to their getaway plane but not before giving Jana a hug to thank her. John lifts his new wife into the plane and completes a safety check before taking off. They do a fly by before leaving.

With the Vuolo family still in town, Ben and Jessa decide to announce that they are expecting their third child on June 6^th. They wait to share it with the rest of the family whom are ecstatic as they are with every pregnancy that is announced.

What are their plans for the future?

Joseph and Kendra think that they would be thrilled to have their second child, but they are planning to build their own house.

Josiah and Lauren are looking forward to expanding their family if the Lord feels fit.

Joy hopes to be pregnant or having a baby within the next year.

Recap: A Bachelor No More part 1

Just a few days before their wedding, John and Abbie are making their unity candle and two candles for their moms. Jennifer is the chaperone and gets out asked what scent they should use, and she responds the laundry smell since she put it in her car. They chose lavender.

Abbie reveals that she was not looking for a husband but when she met John, she felt a change and it was the right thing. John reveals that he had been planning the engagement since the start of their courtship. The couple will be getting married after six months in the same church that they met.

They insisted the help of Jana and Laura DeMaise and the Dugggar brothers to pack up the supplies and head to the wedding site.  Jana says that they are taking extra items and thinks that they are moving somewhere for a year.

The Duggar siblings are asked if they would consider eloping. Jana reveals that at some point many of the couples have said that they should just elope. Jason reveals that he might consider. He figures that his bride would say no way. Jason also adds that it’s not the Duggar thing to eloped since they want all their friends to be there. Jedidiah says that almost all the girls want a ceremony so even if you do elope then you will have a ceremony later on.

The siblings get to the airplane hanger to decorate the reception. They create a flowy decoration made out of tablecloths. They say that they are using a redneck engineering which Austin explains that you just use whatever you have currently.

Jeremiah has an idea of putting a ladder on the forklift however Jana doesn’t think it is a good idea. The group leaves at one since they still need to decorate the church later on. Jedidiah reveals that it’s hard to work with each of their siblings since they have their own opinion.

Josiah and Lauren are practicing the song that they will be singing. Lauren gives an update on how she feels since losing their little one and all the memories that could have been made. Josiah and Lauren share that they are just trying to praise the Lord on how good he is even through they are going through a rough time. Lauren says that she has never seen someone serve their wife as much as Josiah has and wish that their baby would have seen what a wonderful daddy he could have been. Lauren was so weak and could not walk so Josiah carried his wife around.

The day before the wedding, the family heads down to Oklahoma. Jessa shares that whenever that they are back in the house, she morph back into the role as an older sister and makes sure that the girls have their dress shoes.

The bride and groom arrive at the rehearsal which goes perfectly. The man that is officiating the wedding is Bob Gray II, which is the pastor the church that John attends in Texas when he is there. John shares that they are ready to have their first kiss and it’s hard to wait but yet it’s not. After they are done rehearsing for the ceremony, there is still a lot to be done at the hanger. The light guys are taking more time to set up the lights than they originally expected which makes Jana stress out but she is able to keep her cool. Friends of the family have come to help.

** I had to break our recap into two parts because I still need to edit part 2 and make sure that it’s ready to go. It will be up tomorrow morning at 8am. **

Recap: To Grandmother’s house we go

Joseph and Kendra are taking Garrett to Panama City Beach to spend time with the Caldwell family. Kendra reveals that her son loves the warm weather and gets relaxed. Kendra reveals that her family has been vacationing there for six years and love coming to the beach. Kendra reveals that she has hard time convincing Joe since he is not much of a beach person.

Kendra’s mom is about 28 weeks pregnant with her eight children. Kendra reveals that during her mother’s first pregnancy, she was in a car accident and it caused damage to her body. She has had a lot of uncomfortable contractions.

While the family is at the beach, they have Joseph and Kendra’s dad be the captains as they build a sandcastle contest. Kendra reveals that her husband and father have the same competitiveness.

Kendra’s father, Nathan, Lauren and Gracie ended up winning because their castle is taller and now Joseph must be buried in the sand.

Jeremy and Jinger are heading to Pennsylvania to visit Jeremy’s parents. Jeremy is happy to take his daughter back to his old stomping grounds. Jeremy feels that it’s hard to travel with one child to him however Jinger feels that it’s easier since she had eighteen brothers and sisters. Jeremy could not imagine what it would be like to travel with 19 kids. After their visit with Jeremy’s parents, they head to visit Jeremy’s great-grandparents who are in the 90s. Jeremy’s great-grandmother is over joyed to meet Felicity.

Jeremy feels that his grandmother ignored him for about five minutes. It was all about the baby. Ann reveals that she would get to him sooner or later.

Jinger sets up a special surprise for Jeremy since they are in New Jersey. She is having Luis and Cara come for a visit.

John and Abbie are heading to the Philippiness for a medicial mission trip. This is a special trip because Abbie has always wanted to go. Her parents, had a meeting with John and his parents, had mentioned that they had a daughter that wanted to go on a medicial mission trip.

Abbie has been a licensed nurse for a year but left her job to planned for the wedding. She hopes to go back to nursing one day which she and John have talked about her getting a job once they settle into Arkansas. John admits that he supports his girlfriend with wanting to keep up with her license as well as helping others.

During their mission trip, the group runs a clinic (with the dentists and doctors) while sharing the gospel. The couple enjoys local food including chili ice cream. Abbie was not a fan.

Another Duggar is about to learn how to drive. Jim Bob and Jackson are heading to get a driving lesson from a police officer. Jim Bob hopes that the police officer can give him some advice. Jackson is driving one of the big vans with some of the brothers can come with them. Jim Bob brings a pillow so Jackson can see over the wheel.

Jedidiah reveals that they have about ten drivers right now and have 40 sitting outside of the house. Jana says that it’s crazy to think of Jackson is driving. Jessa reveals that her brother’s personality is lively and that he loves to talk a lot.