Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Recap: "An Emotional Goodbye" and "Farm Fresh Duggars"

19 Kids and Counting, "An Emotional Goodbye" 
  • The rest of the Duggar moving crew and several Bates kids arrive to help Josh and Anna get settled into their new house. "We've spent the last three nights in the RV, so I'm really excited that the moving trucks are showing up this morning," says Anna.
  • Jim Bob compares his super-sized family to an octopus: "Sometimes those tentacles have a tendency to overlap or conflict with each other." The Duggars admit that they are not professional movers, but with 25 people, they can accomplish a lot in a short period of time.
  • When all the trucks are empty, the Duggar girls bring Anna to tears by surprising her with a bunch of cute decorations and framed photos.  They stay up all night transforming the house into a home that looks professionally decorated.
  • To celebrate Anna's 25th birthday, the Duggars hop into the bus and make the 10-mile drive into Washington D.C. for a carousel ride, which brings on nausea for most of the family. Afterwards, they head to a restaurant for their last meal together as a family.
  • The next morning, everyone gets up early to head back to Arkansas, but first, it's time to say goodbye. "All good things must come to an end," says Jim Bob. Everyone exchanges hugs and sheds tears.
  • After the bus drives away, Josh heads out for his first day of work. "Watching Josh drive away and realizing that I'm here in a new city with three small children...it's not going to be an easy adjustment, but we'll make it through," says Anna. 
 19 Kids and Counting, "Farm Fresh Duggars" 
  • Although there are currently no babies in the Duggar home, Michelle says she is not taking down her diaper changing station. She would welcome more kids and is open to the idea of adoption. Jim Bob is onboard with that idea but also has something else in mind for the family's immediate future. Duggar Family Farm, anyone?
  • The Duggar dad dreams of growing food and raising livestock on a section of his 20 acres of land. He loads his wife and kids into the bus and drives three hours to the Youngblood GrassFed Farm in southwest Arkansas to experience a real family farm.
  • The Duggars rise at 5:30am to get to work. Michelle and the older girls start off by feeding the pigs. "They stink really bad," says Jessa, who hopes there won't be any pigs on the Duggar Family Farm.
  • The little boys learn how to milk cows, while the little girls feed the chickens and collect eggs. Meanwhile, Jim Bob inspects a pregnant heifer. "I was elbow deep into their farming thing," jokes the father of 19.
  • Later, the Duggars head over to the Youngblood's meat shop (Meatworks Butchery & Market), where the girls help prepare an organic, farm-fresh meal and the guys work in the butcher shop. "I haven't seen this much butchering since my dad tried to speak Spanish," laughs Jessa.
  •  At the store, Michelle is able to connect with a mom who lost a child at 1 pound, 8 ounces (2 ounces more than Josie weighed at birth).
  • So are the Duggars going to start a family farm? The day was filled with a lot more surprises than Jim Bob had imagined, but he and Michelle are going to pray about it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

"Big Changes" Recap

On tonight's new episode of 19 Kids and Counting, "Big Changes"...

  • The show kicks off with an updated intro.  
  • One week before they move to Washington D.C., Josh and Anna take Marcus in for a well-baby checkup to make sure he is ready to travel across the country.
  • Before making their big move, Josh and Anna head to the nation's capital to find a house to rent. They decide to start their search in the suburbs, where they hope to have more breathing room. After looking at three options, the couple is ready to make their decision. 
  • They pass up the two with more limited living quarters that are closest to the metro for a 3,000 square-foot home with five bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms. Josh will have to drive to work every day but is happy to make the sacrifice for his kids, who are thrilled with the new house.
  • The day before Josh and Anna leave, they invite the whole Duggar crew over for a packing party. Jim Bob's only question about the whole process is, "What's for lunch?" 
  • But guess who walks in while he and Josh are taking a pizza break? Their personal trainer! He quickly takes charge and makes them do the heaviest lifting, while himself enjoying an ice cream sandwich.
  • While packing, the kids have some fun with the label maker, which includes tagging their oldest brother with a sticker that reads "Slavedriver Josh."
  • After one long day of work, five years of memories are packed up, and the Duggar caravan is ready to leave Arkansas.
  • "As a mom, it's hard," says Michelle. "You want your children nearby, but yet you want them to follow their dreams."
  • "Even though we have 19 children, it's still going to be really difficult when one moves away," says Jim Bob.
  • The moving parade consists of two moving trucks (driven by Jana and John-David), an SUV (driven by Jessa and Jinger), a truck and trailer (driven by Joseph), the Duggar bus (driven by Josiah) pulling a minivan, and a motor home (driven by Josh). On the way to D.C., all 25 Duggars stop for a quick visit with the Bates family, who surprise their friends with a baby shower for Marcus and gifts for Josh and Anna.
  • After spending the night at the Bates' house, Josh and Anna head out early, while the rest of the Duggars sleep in and hits the road...the next day? Once they reach D.C., the family of five spends a quiet night in their motor home, parked outside their empty house.