Back to the Big House: Duggar Family Update, Broomball, & Jinger's Childhood Room | Ep.51

0:00 We're talking about Arkansas. Oh yeah. So, we just got back from Arkansas. Yeah. And we spent a week and I feel like the last couple times we've gone to Arkansas have been really last minute. Oh my goodness. Literally 2 days before. I think that's what happened on the last two trips. You know, it's a really special family. Like they've been through a lot these last few years. Yeah. The Duggars have. And it seems like everyone's in a really good place. Yeah. And everyone's had to work through things in their own ways. Mhm. Oh my goodness. This is your childhood in a nutshell. Yes. And it's been years. Thanks for asking me that question. That really means a lot because No, I'm not. I'm not tearing up. I don't need tissues about that. We had a rough. But those would be happy tears. Those would be tears of joy because I'm not crying.

0:47 I'm not crying. [Music] What's going on, guys? We are back for another episode of the Ginger and Jeremy podcast. And last week was fun, Ginge. We passed the 50 episode milestone. That's crazy. And we had Matt and Abby on to talk about their uh explosion in Tik Tok and how they've helped us with the podcast. This has been a fun ride. It has been. Well done. Thanks for uh helping kick this off cuz I was a little preoccupied when we restarted this podcast and I think you had the vision for it and I was like, "Oh yeah, that could actually work." So way to go Jar for getting us back into the podcast space. It's been a lot of fun chatting and also just us to like sit down late at night, do a podcast early in the

1:33 morning. Um it's it's been really fun for us. Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. Uh I really enjoy this and next week we'll be number 52, which means we've been doing it for exactly a year and it doesn't feel like the year's best. It doesn't. That's wild. Yeah, it's been pretty cool. We've had some pretty fun guests and we've got some great guests coming up as well. Yeah, I'm excited for it. So yeah, excited for you guys. Thanks so much for tuning in all this time as well. Um I think we've almost like tripled in terms of listenership since we started which has been really cool to see and we're really grateful for you guys. And uh we've got some fun things coming up for our loyal listeners. So stay on the lookout. If you don't follow us on the Instagram page, go to Ginger andJeremy and follow that because we put a lot of stuff on there that you won't see on our socials.

2:19 There's some there's some fun stuff coming down the pike. Okay, here's what we want to talk about today is we What do you You're looking at me funny. Your sleeve has food on it and I think it's from one of the kids. It really does not matter. It does. But you're in dad mode. Like so that was from Evie just had breakfast and then she gives you a hug. I was doing some work on my computer and she ran up to me and gave you a hug, planted her face. Um, you know, it's funny some of the uh I'll be at church and like some of the college students in the ministry will be like, "Oh man, you got a stain or something." I'm like, "Bro, we're in a different season of life." If I have one stain, that's actually kind of We're in a different season of life here, bro. That's Yep. That's donut. That's from 20 minutes ago. And there's pasta. Like, I wore white pants the other day and immediately I I I was like, "Oh, why am

3:04 I wearing these?" rookie mistake with the white pants. Yep. Not okay. Um Okay. I don't know what we're talking about. We're talking about Arkansas. Oh, yeah. So, we just got back from Arkansas. Yeah. Yeah. And we spent a week and I mean that was like a last minute I feel like the last couple times we've gone to Arkansas have been really last minute. Oh my goodness. Literally 2 days before. I think that's what happened on the last two trips. So our last trip to Arkansas, we'll just go there first. That trip happened because it was so close to Christmas. I was really missing my family. We had planned to have Christmas with your family and it was super close to my birthday and I was just feeling really sad. I was like, I feel like I just really miss my family. I wish we would have planned better. Jeremy's the best. He said, "Okay, well, would you

3:51 like to go to Arkansas?" He called me up and said, "Would you like to go to Arkansas tomorrow?" That's after I had called a couple of the siblings, started with James. And they were like, "Yeah, we'd love to come out and spend time with Jinger for her birthday weekend, but it was just becoming like a logistical burden on them. And I'm thinking, hey, we're the ones asking, so the logistical burden needs to be on us. Let's just get up and go." So that's what we did and it was worth it. It was always the most special trip. I think it meant the world to me in that season because there was so much that I was like, "Oh, I just want to be there around the holidays." And it was such a sweet gift. Um, such a memorable trip. And then this one, it was amazing because we were actually looking at our summer schedule and we actually had a

4:37 lot of things that were happening over the weekend because being in college ministry, you have a ton of weddings that happened. So, every weekend or every other weekend feels like, you know, there's a wedding or a bridal shower or something like that that's happening that we want to be a part of. And so with that, um, there were also other trips. We just saw, okay, there's not going to be much time to hang out with family. And so Jar said, "I think we should do an Arkansas trip. Let's figure out when we can fit that into the schedule." Our summer I mean, our listeners can probably relate to this. Our summers get jam-packed so fast. And I'm one of those guys, I was telling you, I commit to things six months in advance and then when it comes time time, I'm like, man, why did I commit to that? Yeah. Speaking engagements, speaking engagements or something. Not because of those engagements, but

5:22 because you realize, okay, we have a little more time with our kids this summer. And uh all of a sudden, before you know it, every weekend is gone or trips. And then you don't Well, us anyway, we don't do great at planning way ahead. Yeah. And so we're more impromptu, which honestly, actually, um here's something we can update the podcasters on soon. I'm going to take you out on a date, but it's going to be a strategy date. It's a brainstorm date. So, we're going to get sushi, take it to my office, get a babysitter, and we're going to plan schedule out. We're going to plan one year, three year, 5 year because we really don't do that. Like, we don't sit down and take time. And so, we did that and said, "Okay, what does our summer look like?" Because here's

6:08 the other controversy we've talked about on this podcast. It's our most explosive disagreement as a couple. We use different calendars. Yes, we do. And so, you use Google. I use I use Google Maps. I use Google Calendars. I can't stand either of them. Now, Google Maps, let me just say, your Apple Maps do not allow you. Oh, so we're giving we're presenting arguments now. I'm going to give you an argument real quick. This is I think I think once I tell you this, this will actually make you I feel like they're the drawers and we're like, let's hear it. Let's hear it. So, you just went right into opening state. The Google The Google Maps, the reason I use them is because it allows you to search for things on the way. And when I'm with the kids, I often need to search for um a convenience store or I need to search for a coffee shop to keep me going on the way. And you cannot do that in Apple

6:53 Maps. And it will say 2 minutes out of the way. This is this is this. And it gives you all the options as you're doing it. You I don't know how you function without that. So same features on Apple Maps. It does not. Well, I've tried. I've tried. It's not on there. It's not on there. Well, maybe it's messed up with car Apple CarPlay, but um Must be. Yeah, I'm I don't know. I just like how everything's synchretatized with Apple. Um but I guess what I said I'm switching over to Apple Maps. I mean Apple Maps, not Apple Maps. Nope, I'm not. I'm switching over to Apple calendar. So, we can sync your work calendar. The problem is because my work is on there, I can't change He can't change everybody else's meetings. But we sat down and we said, "Okay, what's our schedule look like this summer?" And it

7:39 was on a Tuesday or a Wednesday or maybe a Wednesday or Thursday actually. And the next week was the best block of time for us to take a week. And so we up and booked. I used tons of air miles. Yep. Which we never use. Nope. And uh we've got a bunch. So I thought let's use some air miles. And we flew out to Arkansas. Yeah. It was great. It was such a perfect time. And I think sometimes in this season of life, I am the type of person who's so content to stay home for because for one, I don't like to fly. Um, and the other side of it is the logistical side cuz I am not a planner. I would much rather go two days before than you tell me 6 months in advance

8:25 because then I think, okay, wait, I'm going to have to plan. How's Finn going to be at that time? What season of life is he gonna be in? Is he gonna be cranky on flights? Here's a valuable lesson. Six months. I don't know. Right now, I know he's easy that we've learned. Planning too far ahead. And you want to save 50 bucks on the flight. So, you book the 6:30 a.m. flight instead of the 10 a.m. And then you get there and you're just like miserable. Miserable. Don't do it. Go for those extra spend an extra 50, 150 bucks if you have it and make it convenient for your family. This was Finn's first trip. This was and I that's part of the thing. I thought if we scheduled this out three months in advance, what if he's in a cranky season? What if he's struggling with teething? Yeah, now's the time to go and he sleeps and he's happy all the time. Good point. Let's just go. It's valid

9:12 points. I love it. Uh we also brought along our favorite podcast producer, editor, Mark Finster. Yeah, we did. We brought along Mark. That was a last minute decision, too. Mark's like, "Hey, I'm game to come if you guys want to record some pods." And at first I was like, "No, I don't think you know where are we going to set up?" So, we call Ben. Ben uh graciously is like, "Hey, dude, feel free to use my office in the church." For those of you who don't know who Ben is, he's our uh brother-in-law. Yes. Ben Jess, married to my sister, Jess. And so, we set up a podcast studio and we've actually got some of those episodes coming out. We just had one come out with Jed and Katie a couple weeks ago, but we've got some more coming out and that could be a fun annual thing to do to Oh, I love it. bring the podcast Arkansas once a year

9:58 and sit down. All right, guys. We're going to take a quick break from this episode to talk to you about Cozy Earth. Y'all have heard us talk about Cozy Earth all the time and it is for a very good reason. Their sheets are so buttery soft. They're bamboo sheets and they are temperature regulating. Yeah. It reduces the risk of heat sweats at night. Night sweats. Yeah. Did I say night sweats? You said heat sweats. Night sweats. I don't know what night or heat sweats are, but night sweats is what I I'm telling you postpartum, I've had so many like up and down regulate like keeping my temperature at night regulated has been a difficulty. But with Cozier's sheets, I've noticed it's been so much better. So get them just in time for summer. Uh

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13:03 right. Now, back to the episode. It's super fun. like like what we've talked about, Ginger, where it's like fun for us to sit down sitting down with the family. Honestly, sometimes when you're visiting, there's kids running all over the place. You're on the go, you're doing this, you're doing that. When we set time aside to just have a conversation with the cameras and the mics, it's still just a conversation. And sometimes it's like the nicest touch point you have with someone. It is. It's quiet. And we did that over dinner with a couple siblings and it was sweet, too. But at the same time, it's like it's just great because you have something planned out and you're just chilling and it's very relaxing and fun. And so hopefully you guys as listeners appreciate those episodes, too. But the Arkansas trip was fantastic. And here's what I I want to hear from on just off the top here, Ginge is for a long time

13:51 you've been wanting to play broomall. Oh my goodness. This is your childhood in a nutshell. Yes. And it's been years. Thanks for asking me that question. That really means a lot. Um, I think I was most excited to play and then have you play because for me No, I'm not. I'm not tearing up. No, I'm not. I'm not tearing up. I don't need tissues about that. No, I'm just tired. I was about to let out a big yawn. Okay, we had a rough. Those would be happy tears. Those would be tears of joy because I'm not crying. I'm not crying. So, no, we went and played broomball and it was so much fun. I was actually kind of terrified because now I'm 31 and I'm running on the ice and I have three kids

14:37 to care for. The worst idea. One who's an infant who is totally relying upon me to take care of him. And I thought if I get injured, this is very bad. We're in another state. We can't just like drive home. Why am I playing this game? But am I playing this game? I begged to play this game. So I literally messaged Jer, my brother, and which you call Jer. Jer. Yeah. I just called him Jar. Jer because you call me Jer. But for years you guys call him Jer and it's J E R. And I never understood the where the second E was coming from. I don't understand it but he's J and you're J. It's J. It's Yeah, it is. So yeah, I messaged him and I asked if we could play broomball and he was like, "Well, let me see." So he

15:24 called our local um the Jones Center is what it's called. That's where we would go play twice a week, play broomball. And for those of you who don't know what broom ball is, let me just set it up for you. You literally go on the ice 30 something year old's nightmare is what it is. It's amazing or everyone's dream. So you go on the ice hockey rink and hopefully it's right after they've skated. You've had a skating session of people like going out to skate on the ice and they've roughed the ice up just enough to where when you get out there, you go with tennis shoes and you use a stick that's shaped like a broom and it's kind of you get like a rubber ball that's small and you hit the ball into the hockey net. So you have two teams, you know, you're running playing against each other. It is a wild time. I mean, I

16:12 kind of actually want to turn this question back on Jer because Jer J, you're getting your Jer and Jer. I want to turn it back on you because how was it walking onto this rink? You think, okay, I have no real protection. For years, we wouldn't even use a helmet. Yeah, but they made you wear helmets this time around. So, you used a helmet, right? So, you feel safe. Well, Ben also came on with a full mouth gear glasses. We'll get into that. Helmet. We'll get into that. How was it? He was the only one who got hit square in the neck in the neck. He got He got hit. His his whole neck was like red. And I walked up to him. I was like, "Are you okay?" Cuz I talked him into playing. I said, I could not believe Ben had never played broomball. It's like that's a crime. What my family does and he lives there.

16:57 He lives real close to the rink. And so I was like, "Bro, shameful behavior. How have you never been?" Yeah. And so I had him come. But okay, how was it running on the ice? It was wild. First of all, uh, broom ball brings out the monster of in men. I had no idea that your brothers and sisters possessed this gift and skill. And your dad, can I talk about your dad for a second? Oh my goodness. Yes. Yes. Pops is 59. He's He's 60. 60 years old. He just turned 60. Let me see how He's 61 soon, right? Google your dad. No, he is 61. Yeah. He just had a big milestone birthday and he's out there. He's got knee pads on. I'm going this Harbor Freight knee

17:43 pads. Yeah, it's great. His move was when it gets kind of around the corner and the curve of the the arena, he would slide on his knees to box anybody else out and then on his knees with the broomstick, hit the ball like he scored three goals. And when I say three goals, the the goal the the score I think was like 55 or 44. He scored three of the goals which were incredibly impressive. And I'm looking at this going I'm watching this happening like he's going to be sore tomorrow. Well, I was thinking I how is first of all, how is he moving like this? Yeah. And then I was amazed at the skill set John David when he got he was like oh my word John David is the Lionol Messi of of Rumball.

18:29 Oh yeah. He gets that little he was literally juggling it, scooping it like in the air over people. Joe scored from probably 50 yards away. You from our defensive. It takes a lot to do that. He was smacking the ball. And I'm sitting there, Ginge, looking around me going, "What have I stepped into? What world? What dugger world have I stepped into?" It's not just the Duggar world. So, this is the crazy thing, but it is our sport. It is it is the thing that you know we all come together we get all vocal. I mean I yelled so much that night I lost my voice. If I go play any other game I'm going to be more passive and like I I like to be competitive. I love trying

19:15 to do sports even if I'm not great. Yeah. But that's the one where I'm like yelling. I'm all in even if I'm like sliding around. I I played a little more cautious Ginger because I did not want to hurt people. I did not want to hurt myself. and other people. I mean, we're we're going to do I took video of the whole night, so we're going to do a vlog. Maybe Finster can put up like a picture or two or maybe even a video clip here while we're talking about it. Oh, we're still playing. Oh, yeah. All right, Ginge. 15 minutes left. That's so sad. I want to cry. I want to cry. We're dying. Look, I'm telling you, they still got it. Look, Finn's out here for his first time, man. With the with the mouth guard. Still has it. He just scored. Hey Pops, how's it feel to score? Solo goal.

20:03 So good. Just like old PS and counting. But it is intense and it's intensely fun. Like I got so competitive about it now. I restrained myself cuz I'm playing with like some high school kids too or whoever was there. But I could see myself getting into it. Oh my goodness. And hearing about the battles that you guys had back in the day. We should get into those. just to give people a picture of what broom can be. So, we had all these random people from the community would show up. Some of them would come, what we would say just to get their anger out. We were pretty certain like they would come and there were a couple guys who were fuming. They would be like beat red, yelling. Some of them got kicked out for foul language cuz you know it's a community center for

20:48 families so they're not going to let you be crazy. And that's the scary thing about kick them out recreational sports, whether it's indoor soccer or something like this, is you get guys who are trying to relive their glory days in high school. Yes. Now they are frustrated accountants. Y and they come out on a Tuesday night and they're they're looking for blood. Oh yeah, they are. And they found blood because half of them would check people into the wall where you're running full force on the ice. It's a big old guy and he's running towards you. You better get out of the way or you're going to be checked into the wall. When you watch hockey and they're going crazy, think about that but with no pass. Yeah. Why What is it about ice that lends itself to violence? Wild. Well, it's you feel powerful on it cuz you're running on ice and you feel like you can fly and then what happens is you realize you can't stop and so you

21:34 plow into the wall or another person with a metal stick. I love that quote, Ginger. That's an you just said, "You feel powerful running on ice. You feel like you can fly." That's so inspirational. That is so that's like Vince Lombardi level inspiration. And then we're going to watch clips of broom going. Well, listen to this. So, this is what happens. You You had people get kicked off the ice for swinging their stick too high, checking people into That's the thing. I'm surprised. You're supposed to have You have to have like no high sticks. So, sometimes when the ball's flying over you, they they had rules for years of no high stick. There was no one out there to to be the refu this time. They used to have refs back in the day, but they don't now. And so it's every man for himself. And my

22:22 cousin got his teeth knocked out. And that's why Ben showed up with the mouth guard cuz he knew. Oh yeah. Well, our cousin who got his teeth knocked out. Poor guy. He How many teeth got knocked out? His front two. Seriously? Yeah. Poor guy. You replace him. It was a whole process. He did. He had to wait for a while. Two front teeth. He had to wait a while to get his teeth put back in. Yeah. But that's pretty par for the course for Arkansas. I'd imagine it is. It's an Arkansas thing. He was real. Everybody wanted date. It's like it's like the English and Arkansas. Like you don't need teeth. Nope. You don't need teeth. Who needs teeth? Or maybe even a little Alabama love in their roll tide. You don't need teeth in Alabama. But there were several times where before you had to wear a helmet like you'd have people laid out on the ice and there would be blood. They'd go to the ER and that happened. Yeah. And here we were

23:09 out there playing twice a week and it's miracle that no one got in the uh the ice lends itself to the violence and the ER. We took Felicity out ice skating for the first time over Christmas with my parents and 20 minutes in a kid there's an ambulance pulling in taking a kid dragging a kid off the ice. Yeah. They literally had him. I mean, I guess as humans, we haven't picked up on the fact that like, hey, this is a really slick surface that's very hard. Maybe it's not the best place for entertainment. And so then we take razor sharp blades on our feet and go out there and have fun with large sticks. Yeah. What are we asking for? We're asking for trouble. Well, with at Broomball, you don't even wear skates. No, I know, but I'm just combining some of the aspects of our ice entertainment

23:55 and Yeah. It's crazy. So yeah, it was it was fun being back out there and I was just sad that there were not as many skaters before and I had the wrong shoes. I would have actually like bought broomball shoes had I known I was There are ball shoes. There are broom ball shoes googling it. And so it's a specific type of sole that's going to allow you to grip the ice better. So I legit would have bought broomball shoes had I known I was going to go play. Um because the shoes I had were not the best and I was sliding around so I was not able to get the grip I needed to run. So those are broomall shoes right there. See him? He's going to show y'all what it looks like. So anyhow, what a great time. It was so much fun. Never knew. I never knew. We did do other stuff in Arkansas. Yeah. But um I've never seen you so happy as to when you heard that

24:40 we got the place reser reserved. I was so happy. you have it because broomall and you write about this in people pleaser. Uh the community you found in Broomball and when you were real sheltered and more like isolated and you were interacting with people from the community going to Taco Bell afterwards. I mean, I was nervous as all get out, but I mean, it was fun. And I think that broom ball is something that like I didn't we didn't play organized sports. And so, that was the closest thing to an organized sport that we had done cuz we play a lot of games and sports like as a family. We had people over all the time like every other night there was like volleyball, basketball, all the things were happening, kickball, like there were tons of things that we would play. But

25:26 that was so much fun. We looked forward to it. And we would go ice skating all the time. We'd be on the ice all the time. So like ice skating, broom ball, those were free sports in our area. And so we could just go play whenever you wanted. It's big time. That's awesome. Um it was a lot of fun. I mean I really enjoyed I really enjoyed it and it was cool. You know the the other thing too is it is sports bond people. like you bond really like with your teammates, but even spending, you know, an hour out there, even with your family and your dad was out there, your brothers were out there, some of your sisters were out there. It's just a really fun way to spend time um and to engage with family and like uh yeah, just connect on that level. It was a blast. It was so fun. It

26:12 was awesome. Can't wait till we can do it again. I'm gonna actually have to like buy a couple broomball sticks for us to have here and we'll play broomball in LA. I think being in college ministry is kind of perfect. That's the sport that a lot of people play. So, we'll get we'll get one set up here. Go back. Yeah. I mean, they have it locally in the They do. So, um going home to Arkansas, what does that feel like for you? It is so exciting. I love going back to visit and at the same time it's overwhelming and this is why because we live away there are a couple siblings who live away now um just a few and when you live away from family and then you come back then everybody wants to see you everybody wants to connect with you

26:58 and it can be so tough to juggle all of that because when you have so many siblings and um their families Then there's all the nieces and nephews, everyone. Trying to coordinate stuff is hard, especially when you're just there, even if you're there for a week. To be able to see everybody, to be able to like connect individually is hard. So, you have to like a lot, okay, we're going to go to brunch at this time, but everything always takes longer than you expect, too, because you're coordinating getting out the door with so many people. If you want to get together, then you have to either side because there's so many people to come. Like you're having, you

27:44 know, nine of the girls with often you'll have nieces and nephews that are tagging along and to get reservations is hard. That's something that we ran into because it's like we went to a couple different places and they had to seat us at different tables because there's not room for 20. Yeah. even if it's not everyone going. And so all those little logistics are fun but also kind of crazy. And then when you go back, you want to have those deep connections and be able to sit down and talk with maybe one couple for 5 hours over dinner. And we did that with a few, but at the same time, you can't do it with everyone every trip. Well, Jill and Derek were out of town. They got back Friday night. We left Saturday morning. It didn't work out. your mom and girls were there for a

28:31 couple days, but then they had a trip planned, but then Jana came was able to come in. So, it's like you miss some people, you connect with some. It's it can be tough, but that's what I mean that's not bad. I mean, that's a good thing. Everybody's doing stuff. Everybody's they're living their lives. And then there are times where, you know, when we first got there, we were able to connect like a ton of people went to the big house and our kids got to see all the animals that they have there. What's that like? Super fun. What's that like you walking into the big house cuz we haven't been in the big house for a long time. Yeah, it's wild. We went back and a lot of the siblings showed up and it's kind of crazy though because when we first walked in I was I thought this was so cute. We walked in and um Felicity, she's like walking in

29:17 everything's clean. It's like perfectly clean. And I'm walking in thinking, okay, I know typically when you show up at the big house, it's kind of messy because they we clean it like we would clean the house every night and it would be spotless, ready to go. But when you walk in at like 2:00 p.m. on a a weekday and the house is clean, I I thought, okay, this is a different season of life because you have, you know, maybe five kids who live there now and they're all grown. I mean, I say all grown. Josie's what, 15? But she's youngest. And so that's strange. So you walk in and it's like uh Felicity said to Li, my mom. She's like, "Lolly, um when?" She's like, "Where are all the

30:04 kids?" And Johanna started laughing. She's like, "We are the kids." Cuz they are the youngest in the family. Josie's 15, so she still feels like a kid. Um, but all the other ones, Jordan, she's grown up. Jenny's grown up. Hy's grown up. So, it's it's a different time. And when you walk in, it was quiet, clean, and so they took the they took um our littles around and showed them all the animals that they had. They have a big farm now. Yeah. Um tons of chickens, goats, sheep, cattle, horses. There's that inside playroom with there's a a house inside the playroom. A literal playground inside. A huge slide. And Evie Joe ate

30:51 that thing up. She loved it. She loved it. That slide up there, she kept saying, "Daddy, come down with me." And I'm like, "Evie, I'm a little big." I did try. So, there's a secret passageway in the Duggar home. Yeah. Um, and it goes through the ceiling or through the the wall, through the playhouse into the boys' room, and it's like this very cool slide. It's a tunnel, but it's boarded off. Did they close it? Yeah. I mean, it makes sense because if you are if you're going to the boy's room and you have guests over, you're still asleep and you have little kids climbing through there. I mean, I get it. That's That's a problem. Is it emotional for you to walk into your old bedroom and look around? I don't think I even went into the bedroom this trip. I took the girls up to show my room which room the girl. Yeah. I said let's see this is where mommy would sleep. That's crazy. I wish I would have

31:38 gone up there to see see them. But um it was it was cool for them to see I think that's I don't know if that's her first time up there but recently. Yeah, probably recently. um that yeah it is it's crazy walking back and just like one of the kids came in from cutting the cutting the grass like we have we had a couple like ride-on mowers and I just remember so many summers you know we'd all take turns mowing that was something that we did and I to this day love yard work because of it I hate gardens I hate gardening but I love to chop things down so you give me a push mower you give me a ride-on mower I love it one of the girls came in from cutting the grass. So when you walk outside, you're just hit with that aroma of fresh cut grass and

32:24 it smells different than here cuz there's something about like a little humidity kind of soaks up that smell and pushes it. I don't know. It's like the farm, country living, all that fun stuff. So um yeah, it was fun like stepping back into that old property and just seeing the family and all the things. I think my younger siblings, that's the part that's really fun. I love seeing how they've grown and matured, what they're into now, because when I left, that was a long time ago. It was a half years ago. And those those little kids are all grown up. And it's hard for me to picture the little kids as teenagers and as adults now. It's

33:12 kind of wild. Things are in a really good place with our family, aren't they? Yeah, it's been really sweet. These visits going back have just been amazing. Um, and I Yeah, I just really really cherish it. And I'm so thankful our kids get to step back and see and get to know my siblings, too, because the younger ones, like, it's hard when you live away and you have younger siblings. There can be a certain level of guilt like, "Oh, I I wish I knew more of what was going on in their life or I should call them more often to hear what they're up to, but they also have their own lives. They're growing up and there there are things that when you go back to visit, it's really sweet cuz then my kids get to connect with them and get to find out what they're into and get to

33:59 see their, you know, their farm. Like, that was fun. It was so fun. take them on their little horse and all of the things. Um, so I really do cherish these times when we're able to get together and have time like with my mom. She was just out here for a couple weeks helping me with Finn. I think we talked about that organizing every cabinet in my house and having them get to spend that time is just precious. What's it like seeing Felicity and Evie interacting with their cousins? It's adorable. They honestly are overwhelmed half the time because they don't remember everybody's names. So true. They know. I think the more that we're around the nieces and nephews, my nieces and nephews, our nieces and nephews, then they connect

34:47 and really connect with certain ones and start to get their names down. But then as soon as they get their names down, then we leave. And then when you come back, even if it's been 6 months since they're kids, they've changed and grown so much. Yeah. So, they're always like, "Wait, remind me of their name. What's their name again?" So, I feel like what we should do is create like a little book. That would be fun. And read it every night. This is so do like a little quiz cuz they're not going to be able to remember. We're already at 40. Is it 41 grandkids that it will I don't know how many. Is it 40? Wherever we are, we're somewhere around there. This So, I got a funny story about that. I was I was the other night I was in Kingsburg uh speaking at a high school ministry event and uh there's some

35:34 people who knew you and the family and uh one of the guys in the we're sitting in a circle and they this this one girl she also has a large family and she said, "Yeah, I think we have like 43 grandkids." And I was like, "Whoa, that's more than the Duggars. The Duggars only have 40 or 41 or whatever." And then one of the brothers looks at me and goes, "How do you know how many grandkids the Duggars have?" And he was the only one who had no clue like that I had married one of the Duggar. I love that. And so I just said, "Well, cuz I married one of them." And it was it was so funny. But everybody started dying. He goes, "But he was like really almost like put off but like weirded out like that's such a random. Why do you keep up with us?" Yeah. Like he just throws out like how many grandkids the Duggars have. He's like,

36:19 "Why do you know that?" like, well, cuz I married number six. That's so funny. Yeah, it was it was funny moment. Oh my goodness. Um, what what do you think will stick with you from this trip? Oh, a lot of things. I think just anytime you're able to just go and chill with the fam, it's the best. But yeah, definitely that broomball night was memorable. Yeah, getting out there with you, seeing you get into it was fun. But I think just the conversations that we got to have, late night convos. Um, we stayed at Joy and Austin's and that was just so much fun. They were so so kind to host us last minute for what, five or six days. Yeah. And Oh, yeah. Super last minute. Super hospitable. Yeah.

37:05 Incredible. I love those late night conversations. And I think we connected with Joe and Kendra on a level that was real deep, too. Really sweet. John and Abby, we got to spend time at their house. So many people. Um it's it's you know, it's a really special family. Like I I even go and just spending time with with everybody. Um it's really fun. Like it's a really fun family. And you know, they've been through a lot these last few years. Yeah. The Duggars have. And it seems like everyone's in a really good place. Yeah. Um and everyone's had to work through things in their own ways. Mhm. But it it was such a delight to go back and spend time with people and to see everyone and um wish we got to see

37:52 everyone. Like I said, Chill and Derek were weren't there. Justin and Claire and others, you know, Justin Claire in Texas, but um that's sometimes impossible to see everyone in one trip. Oh, yeah. I mean, it it happens. We need people to still come out and visit us in California. We're having people come out to visit all the time. And so when those trips happen, it's really sweet, too, because we love having people come out because then we get just that quality time with them for 5 days or something or for a weekend. I'll tell you what, I saw Josiah and I said, "Hey, what's up, Josiah?" And he goes, in typical Josiah fashion, "What do you think the first thing he said was to me?" Did he have a joke for you? Yeah. What What do you think the joke was? I said, "What's up, Josiah?" And he said, "This guy." Mhm. Did he? Yeah. Oh my word. Josiah, I love

38:37 that. I love that. He's so funny. Well, it's not Joe because there's he he shorten his name only a certain way. Yes. Because he used to you used to always shorten Josiah's name to Joe cuz it's Josiah. Yeah. And he'd say Joe and I'd say, "Well, you can't say that because his older brother who's like 14 months apart, you know, he's Joe. That's Joseph." Even nicknames are. And then the next one's Josiah. Josiah. Exclusive. He's Siah. And the other one's Joe. That is so funny. Um, it was a lot of fun. Um, last, what was your favorite part of the trip? Goodness, hanging out with Austin, maybe on a on a lazy Thursday. Uh, we went out shooting. I love it. Um, and so I was hitting some targets from 700 plus yards, which was fun. That's impressive, actually. Wow.

39:23 It's no big deal, Jing. It's You know what? It is impressive. I do my best to adapt to the Arkansas lifestyle when I'm there. You did good. Like, I'm trying. Do you fall into the accent? No, not as much. So, when Cade Feainer is around, Cade's everybody from East Texas. Uh, I I I get that East Texas draw, which he probably doesn't think sounds anything like East Texas. I'm really The Arkansas accent isn't as contagious. It's not. I think that it it depends on who you're around in Arkansas cuz a lot of people don't have that thick of an accent, right? And then half of them do. So, I will fall into saying y'all a lot. I said it a ton. We just had friends in from where? Tennessee, Mississippi area. And I started falling into that accent

40:09 hard too because it's just so easy to do. There's a couple things you say like you'll start saying maybe. So, which is something I think the family says a lot of maybe. So, it's like an interesting answer. I' I would never word things that way. I like, hey, do you want to go get ice cream later? Maybe. So, it's like okay. And you start saying that and then there's a couple. Yeah. So, we'll go get some bronze. See, I have my bronze cup here. And then there's another one uh that Austin and Joy say all the time, and it's um it's something Oklahomaman's I've noticed, say. Uh can you think of it? Yeah. Yeah, I I'll think of it in a second. I know. It'll come randomly. We talked about it a lot. Yeah. Kept coming up. It bothers me. I don't know why it bothers me. I'm just like, it's not proper. You're too

40:57 proper. The Volos are very proper. They are very proper and I love that. It's kind of awesome and we're just very not proper. We don't care either. Um, okay. Hold on one second. This is not brought to you by Brahms, but we have to talk about Brahms ice cream. Babe, I I got addicted. I had to I'm glad we were only there for a week because I had Brahms every night. Almost every single night. The last night it was incredible. We were talking about it. We were like, "We need to go get Brahms, but everybody was wiped out from the those days of visiting." And Jeremy was sitting there till the last minute till it closed. He talked about it. He's like, "Can we go get ice cream? Should we get Brahms?" But he didn't want to drive 10, 15 minutes late at night to go get it cuz we were all wiped. Yeah. So, we didn't get it the very last night, but almost every day. We didn't need it the last

41:43 night. Brahms soft serve frozen yogurt. Those cones are like $1.79 for a small and a small is not small. And it's like two bucks for a large. Hey, I remember the saying. It was I can't remember exactly but maybe this will kickstart it. It's something like what's that? They say they say something like what's that or what call it? No, it's it's something like that. Whatchamacallit. It's like a it's asking for clarification and it's a phrase and I'm just like and yeah, I know what you're saying. Is it I'll remember it later. Oh man. Okay. Well, maybe people can leave it in the comments if they think of it. All right, guys. Well, thanks for hanging out. Um it was a great trip and fun little recap there, Jing. I'm glad we got to fulfill your childhood dream again of playing some broom ball and get you into it. It

42:30 was fun. I love it. All right, guys. Thanks for hanging out. Like, subscribe, leave a comment, send us some questions in if you want. And uh we've got some announcements coming your way soon. So, yeah, we do. Stay tuned. Follow the socials on Tik Tok on Instagram. Two Irish twins. All right, guys. We'll see you next week. [Music]