Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Recap: "Michelle's High School Reunion" & "Race to the Altar

Sorry for the delay in posting the recap. Ellie and her Mr. Handsome got engaged today, so we were a little preoccupied. :)

19 Kids and Counting "Michelle's High School Reunion"

  • Cindy, Michelle's dear friend since first grade, comes to visit, and the two head to the gym to work out. "It is such a joy to have a friend that you know loves you," says Michelle.
  • Michelle and Cindy text every morning to encourage each other to exercise. "It is such a joy to have a friend that you know loves you," says Michelle.
  • Michelle shares how she struggled with an eating disorder during high school, something her daughters discuss in their book, Growing Up Duggar. 
  • Jessa and Ben and the little kids put address labels on 800 wedding invitations. Sierra, the couple's wedding coordinator and friend, comes over to make plans for the big day.
  • Later, Michelle attends her 30-year high school reunion with Jim Bob and a few of their children.
  • "I think my mom was pretty crazy in high school," says Joy. "But I think she's calmed down quite a bit." Did you know Michelle had a pet tarantula?
  • The family takes Johannah horseback riding at a local farm for her 9th birthday.
  • "Johannah is a very tough girl," says Jessa. "She kind of has a tomboy side to her. But she's also very girly."
  • The Duggar ladies can do anything in skirts. "If the skirt is cut correctly, you can ride a horse in a skirt without any problem," says Grandma.

19 Kids and Counting "Race to the Altar" 

  • Michelle admits that having Ben live on their property is a bit unorthodox, but given that the couple has 17 chaperones to keep them in line, the mom of 19 says it's okay.
  • Ben and Jessa have been working out with Joy and Jason to get ready for the wedding. The girls wear knee-length exercise skirts, and the boys wear shorts.
  • First, they each take a turn pushing Ben's pickup truck up a hill. Then they hit the weight room. Jessa can bench press about 65 pounds.
  • Michelle says she is thrilled to see her children being active.
  • Jana heads over to Jill's house to help her make an authentic Nepali dinner for Derick.
  • "We are not the best at making Nepali food," says Jill. "I don't know how it's supposed to taste, so it could be completely off, and I would have no clue," says Jana.
  • Derick really enjoys the meal, as do Jana and Jill.
  • Jessa and Ben head to Walmart with Justin and Jordyn to create their gift registry. While Jessa and Jordyn look at kitchen supplies, Ben and Justin scan toys and candy. Ben says he wants to have a fun house so he and Jessa can have kids over.

97 comments:

  1. CONGRATULATIONS ELLIE!!!

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    1. Best wishes to Elle & congrats to her fiancé

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  2. Just an observation: I found it rather amusing when Cindy told Michelle that she was Cindy's 'only friend with 19 kids that gets up and exercises every morning!'

    Does Cindy have many friends with 19 kids??

    :)

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  3. Congrats! Ellie, on your engagement!! So happy for you :)

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  4. We do not mind the delay at all! Congrats Ellie and your Mr. Handsome on your engagement! I hope you both have a beautiful life together! Much love! xx

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  5. Very excited for you Ellie!!!!!
    I really hope from the bottom of my heart that you have a wonderful life:-)

    Thank you for taking time out of your busy life to post the recap

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  6. CONGRATS!! :-D by the repetition of words in the recap, id say your just a little distracted. Lol.

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  7. Congratulations Ellie!

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  8. Congrats to Ellie and her man!!

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  9. Oh wow, congratulations Ellie!

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  10. please do a post on ellie and mr handsome!

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  11. CONGRATS ELLIE!!!!

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  12. Michelle clearly loved her high school years and had lots of fun! So sad that she decided not to give her children similar experiences.

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  13. Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations Ellie and Mr Handsome!!! (better news than the recap! :P)

    Pictures please?!!!! or do you have another place where you post?

    Wishing you all the very, very best!

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  14. Congratulations Ellie!!!!

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  15. CONGRATULATIONS, ELLIE AND MR. HANDSOME!!! Do you have any pictures? ;)

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  16. Congratulations to Ellie and Mr. Handsome.!!! I was just thinking about them the other day. Best wishes and hope you will at least consider sharing a picture or two. Thanks to both of you for the blog!!

    I enjoyed seeing the Nepali dinner episode; thought that was an excellent idea for them and looks like they enjoyed it. Jill's kitchen is beautiful. Jana seemed like she enjoyed the evening.

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  17. Congratulations, Ellie and Mr. Handsome! So excited for you both!

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  18. Congratulations Ellie and Mr. Handsome on your engagement!!! Thanks for this blog!!! God Bless you!!!

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  19. Congratulations Ellie!

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  20. Congratulations Ellie and Mr. Handsome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo happy for ya'll!

    God Bless,
    Cecilia

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  21. Nice to see this family enjoying family time together. This is how a family should act. I love how they support one another, you never hear them talking negative about each other And it is so up building for others.

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  22. Congratulations, Ellie! :)

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  23. Congrats Ellie!!!! That is awesome!!!!!

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  24. I continue to pray for this whole family, for their newlywedded children, Jim Bob and Michelle, and that their eyes would be opened.

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  25. Congrats Ellie!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  26. My congrats to you´re engagement!

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  27. It doesn't matter if there are 50 chaperones. It's the idea of the situation. This is something the Duggars would not have condoned 4 or 5 years ago. 'According to what they have always preached from day 1 on TV. '

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  28. The girls wear skirts when working out to follow their modesty standards, but Ben ALWAYS wears tight fitting shirts! I don't understand how this is modest. He should buy shirts in a larger size. He could have registered for a couple shirts that fit instead of registering for toys.

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  29. Congrats Ellie! So exciting :-) you'll have to post the story!!!
    My sister-in-law just entered a courtship yesterday. such a sweet season :-)

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  30. Congrats Ellie! So happy for you and Mr. Handsome!

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  31. Congratulations, Ellie! Praying for you! đź’‘

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  32. The Dahl Bakt (spelling??) looked delicious, and very healthy!! Would love to have a recipe! :)

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  33. Congratulations Ellie!

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  34. Congratulations Ellie and Mr. Handsome! :)

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  35. Congrats on the engagement Ellie!! May God continue to bless you and your family and may you have a wonderful wedding!

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  36. Congratulations Ellie! wishing you love and happiness!

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  37. Oh I'm sure you are! Congrats to Ellie and Mr Handsome! Hoping for more details on the proposal, the relationship story, the wedding, everything! Looking forward to the next episodes being on YouTube as well,

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  38. Congratulations Ellie and Mr handsome!! From Stacey all the way in Leeds, England

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  39. Hi Ellie,
    Congratulations on your engagement! Will you be posting pictures of the engagement? I hope you do. Do you have a date set for your wedding?
    Please check out my blog and follow it by email. creatingpreciousmoments.blogspot.com
    Love,
    Ashley

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  40. Congratulations on your engagement Ellie. I am so happy for you. Continue to serve the Lord in all that you do. God bless you as you start this new journey in life. Again, congratulations!

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  41. Congratulations on your engagement! Please post some photos!

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  42. First of all- CONGRATS Ellie!!! Post pictures if you can!! :)
    And thanks for posting these recaps.
    :)
    Grace

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  43. Dear Ellie, i never comment on your blog, but i want to say; congratulations on your engagement! What an excited news! We wish you and your love all the best! Greetings from the Netherlands (i hope my english is ok...)

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  44. Congrats Ellie!!!

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  45. ooh ellie! congrazzulations!

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  46. Ellie, that is awesome news hearing about your engagement! I want to wish you and your husband to be a life filled with many blessings and much happiness. Keep us posted of the date and etc. Congratulations to you both!

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  47. Ooh congratulations Ellie and Mr Handsome! I hope the Duggars have given you some ideas for your wedding. Are you planning 19 kids?

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  48. Congrats to Ellie!!!

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  49. Congrats Ellie! Make sure to put pictures when they get married! Thanks for posting these.

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  50. Congrats on your engagement, Ellie!!

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  51. Congratulations Ellie! Here's to you and your Special Someone for many, Many years of Sweet Love and Happiness for the rest of your Beautiful Lives! - Mary

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  52. Is there any way you could post engagement photos of Ellie and her man? We'd love to see them!

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  53. Congratulations, Ellie! Keep us updated; you're just as important as the Duggars!

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    1. Congratulation Soon to be Mrs. Ellie..Wishing you the best!
      Ecc 4:12

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  54. Ellie congratulations on getting engaged!!!! May God bless you in this new season has you plan your wedding.

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  55. Congratulations Ellie!!! Hope you can share your engagement pictures and story with us!?!

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  56. Thank you for all the well wishes! We feel so blessed. Stay tuned for pictures. I am also considering starting another blog about wedding planning, if I can find the time. We definitely don't want to jeopardize our blogs on the Duggars and Bates. :)

    We are so grateful to have you all as readers.

    Ellie

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  57. Congratulations on your engagement, Ellie! :)

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  58. Congratulations Ellie and "Mr Handsome"!! May God bless you in this time of engagement and throughout your life journey together. I have added you to my prayer list. Please feel free to let us know any updates or show us pics! You are like friends, what with reading the blog so often!!! God bless you and Lily and all your family :)

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  59. This is all so wonderful, but the news reports and so on, eg Bible prophecy, prophetic 'dreams' and 'visions', end times stuff, all has me feeling so sick inside, now I wonder what am to do...pray about it for sure.

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  60. Happy 4 U Ellie and honey!

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  61. congratulations ellie & mr handsome. wishing you much love and happiness.

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  62. Wow!!! Congratulations!!!! That is so wonderful :-) May you have a blessed life together:-) Sincerely,Natalia

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  63. Congratulations, soon to be Mrs. Handsome ;-)! May I ask how old you and Mr. Handsome are? Oh yes, a blog about wedding planning would be cool!

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  64. Don't you realize millions of adult leave home, live on their own, date without chaperones, work without accountability partners, go to school by themselves, date without even another couple tagging along, dating alone in an apartment alone not just in public places and manage to still be virgins on their wedding day.

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  65. This fictional high school reunion was a made up script for the TV show with only a few graduates invited to attend a filming of the show. There is absolutely nothing on the Springdale High School website about a class of 1984 reunion, hardly anything about that graduating class at all..Michelle isn't even listed as an alumn...Did the school agree to wipe out any information about this year's graduating class because of her? Someone please check in to this.

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    1. I did look into this...a simple google search led me to a website for Springdale HS class of 1984 reunion which was held Sept 11-13, 2014. This was obviously a real event, but remember TLC is not showing events in "real time" but from several months ago. To those posters who thought it was strange that JimBob and some of the kids came with Michelle....Saturday was listed as Family Day so obviously this was not strange at all. And to the poster who said Michelle only went to this reunion because it was being filmed and hadn't gone to any previous reunions before TLC...we don't know if she did or not but remember just because it wasn't on TV doesn't mean it didn't happen. I really wish people would stop trying to find controversy in everything.

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    2. There was a 30 year HS reunion. Google Springdale reunion. There were many events spread over several days. Children were invited.

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  66. They mysteriously skip over 1984...

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  67. Congratulations Ellie.

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  68. Congratulations Ellie and Mr.? ! I wish you all the best for your new life! May God continue to bless you and your husband! Mann lovely greetings from Germany! I love reading your blogs and really appreciate your work Ellie and Lilly

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  69. Congratulations! That would be awesome if ya'll started a blog about your wedding planning=)

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  70. So sorry, Ellie! I commented before properly reading the post! Congratulations to you and 'Mr. Handsome'! May the Lord bless you on your engagement and new life to come. :)

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  71. Congrats to Ellie and her fiancée. May you have a wonderful time planning your special day. When I got married in 1992 my mom and I planned my wedding and it cost around 3500 all together. We had a small and simple wedding compared to the Duggrs,but we stuck to our budget. It can be done. I never understood how people could spend as much as it would cost for a new house. Doesn't make sense. Buy used and save the difference is something my family has done long before the ruggars

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  72. Congratulations Ellie! I hope you'll take a little blog space to post a picture of your own wedding. Your readers appreciate all that you do :)

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  73. Where's Ellie's big announcement???

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  74. Congratulations, Ellie...are you of the same belief system as the Duggars?

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  75. Congratulation Ellie, I hope you will have a great wedding, and a wonderful marriage!!!!!!!

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  76. Oh Ellie, it's a MUST! You MUST find time to do a blog about your wedding! Please?! I'm on my all fours begging ;) I've always wanted to meet you and a blog is the next best thing.

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  77. Oh, congratulations Elli!! So happy for you! :) May God bless you richly!!!

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  78. In general I understand from the news that the American school system has gone off track by supporting some false information and practices. The value in Michelle going to the high school reunion could be to glorify Jesus Christ who has redeemed her life. She could share the hope for eternity in heaven that she now has through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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  79. Is Handsome his real last name, then Ellie will be Mrs Handsome. Is that true?

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  80. Did Jill have to go all the way to Nepal to discover vegetables, lentils, rice, herbs and spices?!

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  81. @kms

    And most have porn addictions, especially the boys. I personally would not want to marry a man unwilling to be accountable and responsible. Secret sins get the best of people otherwise, and there is wisdom in this, it's not childish, it's mature, wise and responsible.

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  82. Congratulations Ellie and Mr Handsome! May God bless both of you during this exciting and joyous time! May the Holy Spirit guide y'all forever and always. God bless! -EGMGW

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  83. Congratulations, Ellie.
    We love all weddings so want every single detail of yours. Lots and lots of pictures please.

    The great thing is it will be real time and not months behind.

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  84. TLC really needed to be honest here.. this was not the school reunion, but a set up, scripted hand picked few alumni from the school who were willing to appear on TV and say nice things about Michelle...not a reunion at all...was Springdale High School Alummi association the host of this event or was TLC? Please quit misleading. Also, Michelle couldn't give a care for those years of her life nor for those people any more.. that happened a long time ago..did she attend ANY of her earlier reunions of her own accord before TLC came knockin'? Don't think so.

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  85. @Anonymous
    "The American school system has gone off track by supporting some false information and practices."
    Please be specific. I am a retired 36 year veteran public school teacher and beg to differ. My own children graduated from the public school system and are now successful adults. Obviously, the schools cannot teach religious doctrine, which is a good thing.

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  86. To the people responding to whether Michelle had a high school reunion. Remember, this was taped a few months ago in 2014 [ Michelle graduated in 1984], so yes I am sure her class celebrated with a 30 year reunion! Most schools do.

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