Season Finale Recap
On tonight's episode of "19 Kids and Counting," Duggars and Bates: 37 and Counting...
- Jonathan and his sister, Jennifer, foreign exchange students from Indonesia, were visiting the Duggars. Jana and John-David met Jonathan on their recent mission trip to Southeast Asia.
- Before Jonathan returned home, Jim Bob and the rest of the kids played a prank. The name of the game? Snipe-hunting. It goes something like this: everyone grabs a plastic bag and runs around after dark, shouting and trying to attract made-up creatures called snipes. "It's kind of cruel," admitted Jessa. But Jonathan enjoyed himself.
- At a family meeting, Jim Bob and Michelle announced that Gil and Kelly Bates and their eighteen children would be arriving in a few hours. The rest of their message was drowned out by cheers from the kids.
- Josie, Jordyn, and James stayed home with Mom while the rest of the group headed to the George Washington Carver monument. "It's important to learn about great people so that you can set your sights to become all that God wants you to be," Jim Bob told TLC.
- When everyone returned home that evening, Duggars and Bates began dropping like flies. In total, the two families have thirty-seven kids, and the vast majority came down with the virus that the Bates had brought all the way from the eastern hills of Tennessee. (Click here for Kelly Bates' blog post about the epidemic.)
- How did Josie take the virus? Jim Bob and Michelle were very concerned for their preemie's health and knew that she could easily wind up back in the hospital if exposed to too many germs. But by the grace of God, Josie pulled through!
- No small thanks to Grandma Duggar's homemade medicines, the Bates were soon feeling a bit better and ready to depart.
- Gil and Kelly and their kids pulled out with an extra vehicle, a bus that Jim Bob and Michelle gave to the Bates family, no strings attached. "Me and Jim Bob had a wrestling match, but he insisted we take it with us," said Gil, touched by the Duggars' generosity.
New episodes of "19 Kids and Counting" will return this summer. Until then, come back often for updates, recipes, fun facts, and more. We'll be here for you!
~Lily and Ellie
Season Finale RecapSeason Finale Recap
