Recap: "Wedding Countdown!"

Tonight on TLC...

19 Kids and Counting "Wedding Countdown!"

• Jill and Derick have been meeting with Jim Bob and Michelle for weekly marriage counseling leading up to their wedding. Jim Bob says he is "checking Derick out" until the day he says 'I do.'
• The Duggars recommend the Getting Ready for Marriage workbook by Jerry D. Hardin and Dianne C. Sloan, available on our Duggar Store page.  
• Jim Bob and the kids visit an auction to buy furniture for the Stonybrook house, which Jim Bob and Michelle have fixed up over the past two years and will allow Jill and Derick to live in temporarily.
• "I trust Jill; she has a better eye of what will look good in our home," says Derick, who stops by the auction after work.
• "These are the last few days, hours, moments that we are going to be able to spend with [Jill] before she's married," says Jana.
• "We only hold hands right now, and within the span of a day, we are going to be living in the same home and being a married couple." says Derick.
• Jim Bob and Michelle give Jill and Derick a tour of their new home. "There's definitely enough room to start a family," remarks Derick. 
• "Their first home compared to our first home are two total opposites," says Michelle, who lived in a tiny fixer upper when she married Jim Bob thirty years ago. "I know that Jill is excited to start a home of her own. She is such a homemaker anyway. She is just going to love it, and she will do great at it."
• After the tour, the rest of the Duggar family, including Ben Seewald, comes over to help move furniture.
• "Ben's very sweet about taking directions," says Jessa. "He's always like, 'Yes, how would you like that done?'" Jessa says she envisions a much smaller house for her and Ben when they get married.
• Later, Michelle supervises the kids as they film a reenactment of Jill and Derick's engagement, starring Jackson and Johannah as Jill and Derick, Jenny and Jordyn as the chaperones, and Jeremiah as the musician. Four-year-old Josie makes an appearance as the police officer who mistakenly asked Jill and Derick to use a different sidewalk as they entered the park just before getting engaged. He didn't realize that the "documentary" that was being filmed was their engagement!
• Jill picks up the first wedding "guests"--Josh and Anna and their kids--from the airport. "This wedding is happening," says Jana. "It is going to be here before we know it.
• Josh visits his old car dealership, now owned by a friend, to borrow a getaway car for the wedding. Jill has asked her siblings to refrain from trashing her getaway car, but Josh admits he might not honor that request.
• The older girls help Jill decorate her new house, which includes hanging approximately 130 picture frames.
• Two days before the wedding, Jill and her mom and bridesmaids get their nails done by one of Jill's friends. "These are some of the last things I get to do with my family as a Duggar," says Jill.
• The bridesmaids try their dresses on one last time, and Jana finishes sewing 11 ties for the groomsmen and ushers. Jill packs her belongings into boxes, while friends start arriving at the house.  

Recap: "Duggars in Cuffs" & "Duggar Derby"

Tonight on TLC...

19 Kids and Counting "Duggars in Cuffs"

• Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary by taking Jill and her fiancé and Jessa and her boyfriend on a triple date. The Duggar patriarch and matriarch have a special evening planned for the couples. "I've always got a few tricks up my sleeve," says Jim Bob.
• After leaving the house, Jim Bob starts driving recklessly and is pulled over by a police officer, who instructs everyone to step out of the vehicle and line up on the sidewalk.
• "I knew my dad was in on it," admits Jill. "But I thought: 'Because my dad's in on it, what's he going to make us do?'"
• The cop, in cahoots with Jim Bob, handcuffs each of the couples together and leaves the keys with the Duggar dad.
• To teach their daughters and future sons-in-law the importance of teamwork and communication in marriage, Jim Bob and Michelle have a series of challenges planned. Ben and Jessa have an extra set of handcuffs between them so they don't get too close together.
• The first stop is a picnic spot at a local park, where each of the couples has to prepare peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches. Then they head over to the playground to go through a timed obstacle course. Jill and Derick end up winning. 
•  "That might have been a little silly, but there was a point to it," says Ben.
• Next, the group heads over to Jim Bob's friend's house to shoot a bow and arrow. By the end of the evening, Jim Bob and Michelle are feeling confident about their daughters' relationships, and the kids say they enjoyed themselves.
• "Overall, we really enjoyed the triple date," shares Derick.
• "Being handcuffed to you is rather enjoyable," Jessa tells Ben with a smile.
• In Washington D.C., Josh pulls on a pair of sport shorts and a T-shirt and prepares to run a 5K race, the equivalent of 3.1 miles. "Josh has been doing some training," says Anna. "We're not runners, surprisingly."
• Josh doesn't quite make his 30-minute goal but is satisfied with his accomplishment. Trainer Steve Conley, a former NFL linebacker, is impressed.

19 Kids and Counting "Duggar Derby"

• Michelle takes Johannah out for an afternoon of one-on-one time at a local equestrian center. At age 12, the Duggar matriarch had quite a scare when the horse she was riding took off galloping.
• "I think horseback riding was quite a pleasurable experience for Hanney," says Michelle.
• That evening, the family--including Ben, who is living in the Duggars' guest house--gathers in the boys' room for their nightly Bible Time.
• The following day, while Jim Bob and the older kids build ramps for their soap box derby cars, Jessa and Ben take the little ones to Fast Lane to eat pizza and play arcade games. Jana goes along as a chaperone, but she plans to give Jessa and Ben a taste of parenthood by letting them keep track of the little ones.
• According to Jessa, "Ben is excellent with kids" and is going to be a great dad.
• At the end of the afternoon, Johannah says Jessa and Ben are "ready for 19 kids."
• Later, the whole family meets in a parking lot to watch the soap box derby race. They hold two qualifying races to determine the fastest drivers from each of the three teams.

Qualifying Race 1:

Winner: Justin (White team)

Johannah (Red team)

Jennifer (Blue team)

Qualifying Race 2:

Winner: James (White team)

Jason (Red team)

Jackson (Blue team)

• Justin, Johannah, and Jennifer end with the best times, so they become the drivers for the final race. Grandma Duggar fires the starting pistol, and the race begins. Justin crosses the finish line first, but Johannah and Jennifer are not far behind. 

Final Race:

1st place: Justin (White team)

2nd place: Johannah (Red team)

3rd place: Jennifer (Blue team)

• The Duggars end the day with a picnic in the parking lot.