Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Recap: Date Nights & Bright Lights

Jill & Jessa: Counting On "Date Nights & Bright Lights"
  • Jessa takes six-week-old Spurgeon to visit Sierra, a family friend who helped plan Jill and Jessa’s weddings. She had her fifth baby soon after Jessa delivered Spurgeon. Jessa says she is amazed at the energy level that Sierra is able to maintain as the mother of five little ones.
  • Joy chooses a new pair of glasses, with help from Jill and Derick (over videoconferencing) and Jennifer. She ends up purchasing black frames with green on the inside.
  • The Duggars pack up Christmas gifts for their annual trip to Central America. This year, Jim Bob and ten of the kids are going (Jinger through Johannah, minus Joseph). They pray together before leaving.
  • While in Central America, the Duggars meet up with Jill, Derick, and Israel.
  • At home in Arkansas, Jana and Jessa discuss ideas for improving the lighting in the Seewalds’ home. “When it comes to getting something done, you’ve gotta get Jana involved,” says Jessa.
  • After the plans are made, Ben, Joseph, Jana, Jessa, and Peter (a family-friend) get to work installing recessed can lights in the master bedroom.
  • As the eldest Duggar sister, Jana has done a lot of home improvement projects. “I know it’s kind of random, but I love it!” says Jana.
  • Where does Jana see herself in five years? Click here to watch the scene in which she shares her answer.
  • According to John-David, Jana was very outgoing as a child. He also shares that she recently delivered a calf.
  • When the producer asks Jana what three items she would need if she were stranded on a desert island, her response is: “cheese and coffee…and maybe a sibling.” But her brothers and sisters have other ideas.
  • “Like any woman, if she has her purse, she could probably live off it for three months,” says John-David. “She needs a guy,” adds Joy.
  • Jana and John say they consider Jessa to be a taskmaster. According to John, Jessa is great at “making sure that everybody gets the stuff done that they need to get done.”
  • Jessa says she has “firstborn tendencies. “I think after so many kids, it kind of starts over,” she jokes.
  • Later, Jessa and Ben go out on their first post-baby date, and they take Spurgeon along. They enjoy a meal at Tacos 4 Life, a restaurant that donates money to feed hungry children in Central America. The Seewalds plan to start the process of a domestic adoption very soon.
  • Michelle, Anna, Jana, and the little ones make signs to welcome the rest of the family back from Central America.

55 comments:

  1. Loved the show and I can't wait for next week!

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  2. Dear Lily and Ellie,
    I was wondering how you do your recap. Do you watch the show and just write down the main part of it and then post it, or do you do something else? I was just curious, because if I were you, I would forget a lot of the show unless I wrote it down.
    Blessings
    Alissa

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  3. I am so happy to be watching this show again. It's wonderful!

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  4. So who knows a reliable way of getting in touch with Mr. Duggar?

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  5. Just got done watching!Loved it!So happy they're back!!!❤️Duggars!Team Duggar!!

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  6. Just got done watching!Loved it!So happy they're back!!!❤️Duggars!Team Duggar!!

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  7. Hope we would get to see Josh and hear from him...
    Love the show!
    And people please get off Jana's case...she said she's happy! Let her be!


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    1. Josh won't be shown as he was in rehab whilst this was filmed and they says he the reason 19kids was cancelled in the first Place

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    2. No Josh, please! He and his wife and children need lots of time to heal.

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  8. Just honest, I don't know how Jessa & Ben wil go adopting in regarding the rule against having an infant when they don't believe in birth control. Adoption can take a couple years sometimes and I don't see them lasting that long without having another kid (being realistic)...but good luck to them both

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    1. In the states, adopting an infant can take up to 10 years

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  9. Loved the show, but in case I missed something, why would you take a young sick baby out of your house to visit a friend? Hopefully little Spurg was on medication and no longer contagious. Poor Sierra. Just my observation.

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    1. There's no medication that can keep a cold virus from spreading among kids like that!

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  10. They handed out empty bags and backpacks as Christmas gifts? What practical help to an impoverished person is that?

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    1. They buy items there, and possibly bring items along, and then fill them before giving the bags to anyone.

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    2. You have obviously never been to a foreign country. My husband went on a missions' trip and the big "toy" that all the kids were playing with was a broken microwave. People in America might not appreciate a backpack, but people who have never had one would. Also you can tell there is something in the bag. They just don't show what they stuffed in them. For most of those children, it may have been their only present, so I do think they appreciated the gift.

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  11. Why did they take a sneezing baby with an obvious cold around another newborn plus 4 young children?

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    1. I wouldn't be too happy if I was that mother..last thing Sierra needs is 5 sick kids..

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    2. Exactly!!! It's is simple common Curtosy to NOT bring a sick infant/baby/child or adult around a NEWBORN!!! You would think coming from a large family herself jessa would know better- and I don't buy that bit about her not being used to total responsibility of the care of a baby- even though she claims to have only changed a few diapers here and there michelle admits and has spoken on camera that the older siblings get thier new buddy 6-12 months after thier buddy is born. Once a BABY is warned from nursing, michelle passes the baby off to an older sibling to raise so she can have the next baby. Jessa has plenty of experience raising babies.

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  12. Jessa is not much of a housekeeper. Hadn't swept under the bed in a year! Yikes! Hope she was exaggerating.

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    1. No wonder Ben always sounds like he has a stuffy nose & looks like he has itchy eyes!

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    2. It didn't look like it. Lol. When my kids were babies, cleaning came last.

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    3. Don't ask me the last time I vacuumed under the bed! :0

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  13. Thanks for the show recap. I did not see it on TLC but I will watch it yet....maybe on Amazon because I got a gift card for my birthday.

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  14. I think TLC should try to condense the episodes to 30 minutes. would have liked to have seen more from the mission trip instead of video of them stuffing duffel bags or loading and unloading the bags at airport. I was happy to see more of Jana and Joseph but then Jessa was always put back into the scene with a producer asked question. Whole episode seemed choppy.

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  15. Can't there be an episode without Jim Bob and/or Michelle having to make an appearance, too? "We're not on TV any more" yet there we are! Seems they have to have camera time no matter what. Jill & Jessa: Counting On Mom & Dad Showing Up.

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    1. The kids' mom and dad are actually part of their lives, you know. Were you hoping the children would shun their own parents for your viewing pleasure? Do you want to see these kids in the midst of their real lives or not?

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    2. I don't agree with Jennifer. The parents should step away from the camera, period. It looks like they're trying to sneak back onto TV any way they can.

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  16. They went on a date night but they took the baby along? How is that a "date" night? That's just going out to eat instead of cooking again. All those aunties and grandmothers no babysitter??

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    1. Did you forget there are several UNCLES for babysitting duty too?

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    2. Looks like they forgot that!

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    3. 3/23 Anon @ 5:43 you made me chuckle.

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  17. Way too many "previews" and "commercials" , and then repeat of same previews and commercials.
    Counting On is the only TLC program that I watch, so I am wondering if all TLC's shows have the same set up. Could someone answer this who watches their other shows?

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  18. My husband was a Navy electrician and has an engineering degree, yet he refuses to do any wiring work on our house by himself because he knows he's not a state-licensed electrician. He wants all work done to code by a professional, so there can never any question about how safe the wiring is. This is important both for our safety and for when we sell the house.

    Letting your kids do wiring is really taking a chance. And in a room where a baby sleeps! It was never explained if the "helper" guy who came over had a license or not. A house in our neighborhood had a fire one night because they tried wiring outdoor lights themselves...

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    1. I agree, my thoughts exactly!! Hopefully, an accredited electrician looked over their work for safety, absolutely!

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    2. I totally agree with you!! My husband is a contractor and does all things construction but although he knows how to do electric he is not a "licensed electrician" so gets professionals in to do our own house -to be done to code.

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    3. I thought the same thing watching those scenes. My husband is a licensed contractor and insists on using a licensed electrician for anything done here at our home.

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    4. I would never buy a house if I found out that any of the wiring was done by the homeowner. And I would never do any of the wiring on a house that I sold because I could be sued later if anything went wrong with it! That's what licensed electricians are for.

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  19. How is it a date if you bring your baby with you? And also to a taco place?! Where's the romance?

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    1. That was for the cameras, and for advertising the taco place. At least it wasn't eggs and yogurt again.

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    2. There was zero romance. Jessa was all business, talking about adopting a baby. Maybe she could try to be content with the little family she has first. She seems very tired and rather listless. I don't think she is fully recovered from childbirth. yet.

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    3. Not only bringing the baby along, but the two of them are always together anyway, 24/7, so why call it a date? Isn't that precious?!

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    4. When my kids were little we put them to bed and bought take out. It was much better. Also, didn't have a television camera in our face so we could actually have a conversation. That "date night" was so staged.

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    5. Ben said "for every meal they sell, A LOT OF THAT MONEY goes to feeding hungry kids." Nice statement, but according to their website, it's 22 cents. Please, Ben, do some homework before speaking. Why is everything on this show inflated to sound like more than it really is?

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  20. I'm so glad the Duggars are back on TV, but it doesn't feel the same without Jim Bob and Michelle part of the show! I hope TLC will slowly integrate them back into the episodes once any anti-Duggar uproar dies down. It seemed a bit intentional, like the producers went out of their way to edit them out, which is a shame. They did nothing wrong and have been an inspiration to so many. I'd like to hear from Josh too eventually, maybe not through the show, but some sort of statement from him now that he's completed rehab.

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  21. Some of yall are so negative! If you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all. I love the Duggars personally and I think they have raised wonderful children. There has to be one that strays from the Lord out of 18 others.

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    1. Well that surely is not true. None have to stray from the Lord.

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    2. This is Lily's & Ellie's blog. They have complete control of what's posted here. I think it's wonderful that they post varied viewpoints and opinions. If they didn't, they'd probably lose readers & page views.

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    3. I agree.The Duggars have done a great job raising thier kids.The eldest child strayed. We may never know why.The wiring of the human brain is very complex.God gave us all "free will". Only Josh knows what really happened. It's time to stop blaming his parents.The DUGGAR kids were all given a wonderful foundation in life. Much more so than most kids. Yes, Josh sinned. But he's not a murderer, rapist or thief.We'very had sitting Presidents who cheated while in the White House: Kennedy, Clinton. They didn't lose thier jobs. They weren't shunned. Their parents weren't blammed.And, their parents and sibblings didn't lose their jobs. What's wrong with this picture? I'm not in agreement with Josh's actions. But, neither is Josh. He admitted his wrong doings. But, does his punishment by society really fit his crime? We aren't living in the "Salem, MA witch hunt era", are we?? Thank you, TLC for NOT totally giving in the self-serving hypocrites.

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    4. Huh? Blaming Josh's actions on faulty wiring? What he did was reprehensible and he should not come back to the show or to any public forum.

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    5. Those presidents you named were adults. They took their public lumps. Clinton had an impeachment hearing. They did not have their parents cover things up while cameras rolled and checks poured in. That's where the blame is not totally on Josh for what happened.

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  22. Loved the show! Love the Duggars! But I due not want to see Josh ever if I due I will not watch it he needs to be a father and get a job where he can earn money and take care of his family. Dont bring him back!!!

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    1. Technically neither Ben or Derick have a real job to support their families..Josh is the only one who actually had real job to support family. Not defending him but it's the truth..

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    2. Being a missionary is a real job coming from someone who has done it. Josh doesn't need to be on TV because he was a extreme hypocrite and used being on TV to sell something that was a lie. He can be forgiven but needs to stay out of the spotlight.

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  23. Are we going to be able to see the new shows in the UK please?

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