Anna Duggar Celebrates Her Family’s ‘Rare’ Appearance In ‘Counting On’ Christmas Episode

Anna Duggar shared a message with her Instagram followers that got many of them talking about how they would love to see more of her and her family on Counting On. Her post included a few photos from the Duggars’ ugly Christmas sweater party, which was featured on Tuesday night’s episode of the TLC reality series.

In her caption, Anna, 32, revealed that her family of eight only gets to take part in big special events that are filmed for television “on rare occasions” these days. This is because the Duggars’ original reality series, 19 Kids and Counting, underwent a major overhaul five years ago after it was revealed that Anna’s husband, Josh, had molested four of his younger sisters and another girl. According to CafeMom, Josh still gets invited to holiday events with his parents, siblings, and their families. However, he has been completely cut out of their retooled reality series.

He didn’t make an appearance during the holiday episode, titled “The Best Duggar Christmas Pageant Ever.” However, Anna and the couple’s six children did. Their youngest child, Maryella, made her big television debut near the beginning of the episode at the ugly sweater party, and the infant’s older siblings got to participate in a Christmas pageant.

Anna got one speaking line when she organized a mini photo shoot with Maryella and two of the tot’s infant cousins, Addison and Bella. Even though her role was small, she informed her Instagram followers that it meant a lot to her that her family was allowed to participate in the televised activities.

Anna’s post included a photo of her daughter Meredith, 5, all decked out in her holiday best. The adorable little girl posed with her cousin Spurgeon, 4. The next image in the slideshow was a shot of Anna sitting on the couch with Maryella and a few of her female relatives. In the final picture, Meredith wore a felt carrot nose and top hat from a snowman costume.

Anna’s post garnered over 19,000 likes and 200 comments over the span of two hours. Many of her followers said that they miss seeing her, Josh, and their kids on the show.

“Show’s not the same without you guys,” wrote one fan.

“I think you should all be on it all the time!” another person remarked.

“I’m glad you all were a part of the fun and we got to see y’all on air! You and your precious crew are so much fun and it’s nice to get updates or see you included,” a third message read.

While Anna doesn’t appear on Counting On often, she shares plenty of updates on social media. In one of her Instagram videos, four of her children showed off their singing skills.