'The Duggar Dash' Recap

Counting On "The Duggar Dash"

• The Duggars are competing in a race around town that they are calling the Duggar Dash. Team one is Joy, Austin, Tyler, Jennifer, and James. Team two is Jim Bob, Joe, Kendra, and Johannah. Team three is Jana, Josiah, Jason, Jackson, and Josie. Team four is Ben, Jessa, Jeremiah, Justin, Jordyn, and Ivy. Michelle and Lauren are staying at the big house to watch the kids.
• The first challenge is a mystery food item. The foods are tater tot casserole, haggis (from the Duggars’ trip to Scotland), cricket tacos (from Joe and Kendra’s trip to Laredo), and escargot (from Jessa and Ben’s honeymoon in Paris). Jim Bob gets stuck eating the cricket tacos and finishes last.
• The second challenge is for each team member to find an item at a thrift store in their team’s color. The total budget per team is $5. Two of the teams buy one piece of clothing and cut it up, but the Seewalds’ team and Jim Bob’s team buy separate things for each person.
• The third challenge takes place at the Ozark Climbing Gym, where one team member must climb to the top of a wall to reach the next clue.
• The fourth challenge is a math problem. Then the teams must find a sized pair of shoes in a big pile that corresponds to the answer. While digging through the hay, Kendra starts having contractions.
• The fifth challenge has the teams looking through piles of hay to find their next clue. The Seewalds’ team wins, the Forsyths’ team comes in second, Jim Bob’s team comes in third, and Jana’s team comes in last.
• “Overall, it was fun…” says Jana. “It’s always just good to be together as a family and do something fun.”

Michelle and 8 of Her 9 Daughters

Michelle Duggar, Jordyn Duggar, Jill Dillard, Jennifer Duggar, Johannah Duggar,

Joy-Anna Forsyth, Josie Duggar, Jessa Seewald, Jana Duggar

Joy Forsyth is almost 37 weeks pregnant with her baby girl. Earlier this month, Joy's best friend, Carlin Stewart, visited with her husband for 4th of July. At that time, the ladies also threw a shower for Joy. The photo above shows Michelle with all her daughters, minus Jinger, who was unable to travel from Los Angeles. Joy is due August 19th.

Photo courtesy duggarfamily.com

A Keller Family Wedding

It has been a busy weekend for Josh and Anna Duggar and their kiddos. They traveled up to Ohio for a Keller family wedding. Anna's brother Nathan married Nurie Rodrigues. Their nuptials took place yesterday, which was also Anna's parents' wedding anniversary. Mike and Suzette Keller have been married for 40 years! On their way home, Josh and Anna stopped at the ARK Encounter.

Meredith Duggar and Grandma Keller

Photo courtesy duggarfamily.com

Josh and Anna, July 2020

Hope that all our readers are having a relaxing summer, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We thought we would share a new photo of Josh and Anna, as well as their two oldest boys, Michael and Marcus.

Josh Duggar and Anna Duggar

 

Marcus Duggar and Michael Duggar

Photos courtesy duggarfamily.com

Duggars Celebrate 36 Years

Thirty-six years of marriage! Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are celebrating their anniversary this month. When we started our blog in December 2009, the Duggars had only been married 25 years.

Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, 2017

Photo courtesy duggarfamily.com

'A Duggar Bachlor Pad' Recap

Counting On "A Duggar Bachelor Pad"

• A group of Duggars flies to the Bahamas to do relief work following Hurricane Dorian.
• The Seewalds embark on their first road trip with three kids. It’s a three-and-a-half hour drive to Kansas City, where their friends, Brandon and Jenna Chapman, recently moved. “I like looking out the window and singing songs,” says Spurgeon.
• When they arrive in Kansas City, they meet the Chapmans at an apple orchard. The next day, they go to the zoo. Henry runs off a couple times, and Ben has to go find him.
• Back in the day, Michelle would bring perfume or cologne on car rides, in case a baby had a blowout and was smelly.
• In California, 15-month-old Felicity has her first swimming lesson. Jeremy goes into the pool with her, along with the instructor. Felicity does fine, until she has to put her face in the water.
• “A few of my siblings and I did not really learn how to swim, and I was in that middle section of kids,” says Jinger.
• “Our oldest set of kids, they learned how to swim,” says Jim Bob. “They took swimming lessons. And then the younger kids have all gotten a lot of time swimming at a house that we owned for a while that had a swimming pool in the backyard.” But a few of the middle ones didn’t have many opportunities to swim.
• “Duggars are not known for swimming,” says Kendra, who is a good swimmer.
• Jedidiah and Jeremiah show off their new bachelor pad. They still need some important items, including a table and couches. Aside from John, who moved out for a while to do pilot work, and Joseph, who went to college for a short time, Jed and Jer are the first Duggars to move out of the big house before marriage. “All the older kids, they have their own choice, if they want to move out or stay at home,” says Jedidiah. “It’s up to them. A lot of us, we love being at home.”
• The twins share a room at their new house, even though they have enough rooms to have their own space. Jed says that his parents were on board with the move.
• “When our kids get 18 or older, they have the ability to move out or the freedom to do that,” says Jim Bob. “But most of them have realized, ‘Hey, staying here at Mom and Dad’s house until I get married, I can save up a lot of money.’”
• Joseph and Josiah come over for a visit. The twins struggle to make the burgers, so the married guys step in to help. 
• Later, a bunch of Duggars split up into teams to see who can navigate through a corn maze in the least amount of time. The results are: 
• The Seewalds' team: 6 minutes, 25 seconds
• Jim Bob and Michelle's team: 7 minutes, 48 seconds
• Jason's team: 8 minutes, 38 seconds
• Joe and Kendra's team: 10 minutes, 32 seconds
• John and Abbie's team: 11 minutes, 37 seconds
• The Forsyths' team: 15 minutes, 30 seconds
• "We all made it through, and we're all winners," says Jim Bob.
  

2 Duggars Move Out...Before Marriage

You're definitely going to want to tune in tonight for this week's new episode of Counting On. The title, "A Duggar Bachelor Pad," says it all. Twins Jedidiah Duggar and Jeremiah Duggar have just moved out of the big house into a home of their own. You'll get a tour of their new place and see some of the challenges that they face as they navigate life without the rest of the family.

Jeremiah Duggar, Joy-Anna Forsyth, Gideon Forsyth, Jedidiah Duggar

Photo courtesy duggarfamily.com

More July Birthdays

The Duggars are just about finished celebrating birthdays for this month, although the first August birthday is just two weeks away. Jim Bob Duggar turned 55 yesterday, and Felicity Vuolo is turning two today. Happy birthday to "Pops" and his 12th grandchild!

 Felicity Vuolo and Jim Bob Duggar

Photos courtesy duggarfamily.com; jingerandjeremy.com

Meredith Duggar Age 5

Yesterday we posted about Meredith's fifth birthday, so we thought we would share this new photo of the birthday girl with some of her presents.

Meredith Duggar celebrates her fifth birthday

Photo courtesy duggarfamily.com

Samuel Turns 3 and Meredith Turns 5

July is a busy month for Duggar birthdays, so we decided to combine two of the grandchildren. Samuel Dillard turned three last week, and Meredith Duggar turns five today. Happy birthday to these two!

Samuel Dillard and Meredith Duggar

Photos courtesy dillardfamily.com, duggarfamily.com

'Beverly Hills Duggars' Recap

Counting On “Beverly Hills Duggars”

• Josiah and Lauren (30 weeks pregnant) go to a birthing class with John and Abbie (18 weeks pregnant). Both ladies are planning for a hospital birth and would like to deliver naturally, if possible. “My mom has always done hospital births,” says Lauren, when asked why she didn’t choose a home birth. “If anything’s wrong, it’s right there. I just feel very comfortable at the hospital.”
• At the class, teacher Teresa straps pumpkins onto the guys’ stomachs so they can feel what it’s like to be pregnant. Then she hooks them up to a labor simulator. “Ya it hurt,” says John. “It felt like being electrocuted.”
• “Josiah didn’t even last two minutes,” says Lauren, laughing. When the producer jokes about having 19 kids, Abbie says she’s not doing that.
• Meanwhile, Jana visits Jinger in Los Angeles, and the two girls go shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Jinger, who enjoys following clothing trends and has been dubbed the family fashion queen, says that Jeremy also loves clothing and has helped her keep up with the latest styles.
• “I have branched out into buying a few new items here and there, but it’s hard to because it’s a lot more expensive,” says Jana. “I don’t really like paying much for clothes.”
• The Duggar sisters used to call their style “modest modern,” but Jinger says that her new goal is to dress “classy.” “Looking back on our old photos and how we dressed, oh my word,” says Jana, laughing.
• At Boulmiche, the employee and Jinger convince Jana to try on some tops and skirts that are a bit outside her comfort zone. Jinger falls in love with a plaid jacket and then realizes that it costs $300. “The jacket may have been a little pricey, but I had been looking for a jacket like this for a long time, and I knew it would be quality and last me for forever,” says Jinger.
• “I mean, if you’re going to wear it every day or you’re going to have it for years to come, then it’s probably worth it,” says Jana, who doesn’t end up buying anything.
• When the producer mentions Jinger’s purchase, Michelle responds, “Whoa.” Jim Bob says, “It must be one nice jacket.”
• In Arkansas, the guys set things up so the moms can have a childless gathering at the Baylor House, a flip house that the Duggars have been working on for years. They make homemade face masks and put up decorations.
• When Michelle, Jessa, Joy, Anna, Kendra, Kendra’s mom Christina, Abbie, and Lauren arrive, they are blown away by the thoughtfulness. They question the face masks, although they go along with them. The cinnamon-banana mask, made by Joe, burns Christina’s face, but she’s a good sport.
• Joy-Anna has prayed that she would not have a difficult time being around Lauren, Anna, and Kendra, since her daughter was supposed to be due at the same time. God answered that prayer. “Even though it’s hard that I don’t have my baby, that doesn’t negate from my happiness for them,” says Joy.
• During the meal, the ladies discuss the struggles of motherhood. They all write down questions so the other moms can weigh in and give advice.
• While the ladies have their girl time, Joseph, Austin, and Ben watch their four boys at the Seewalds’ house.