Duggar Family Updates: Josh Breaks Silence, Joy-Anna Leaves Home With Jill
The Duggar family spent part of their weekend celebrating with their closest friends at the wedding of Michael Bates and Brandon Keilen. However, one member of the Duggar family member is noticeably absent in the numerous social media photos floating around online — it looks like Josh Duggar either stayed home or tried to avoid being photographed.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Michael Bates’ wedding was filmed for her family’s UPtv reality series, Bringing Up Bates. It’s possible that the show’s producers didn’t want Josh Duggar to come because his presence would cause controversy, or perhaps Josh decided to skip the wedding because he wasn’t ready to face a large group of people after making his shocking sexual molestation confession — he would have been uncomfortable, and some of the people around him would have been uncomfortable.
There’s also the possibility that Josh did attend the wedding, but he kept a low profile at the event. Whatever the case may be, Anna Duggar was definitely there — her smiling face can be seen in a photo collage on Whitney Bates’ Instagram page.
https://instagram.com/p/6dFEc0R8Tg/
Many members of the Duggar family have used their social media pages to congratulate Michael Bates, but Josh hasn’t posted anything about her wedding — he hasn’t been very active on social media since admitted that he molested his sisters as a teenager. However, the former 19 Kids and Counting star did end his month-long Instagram silence to celebrate the one-month birthday of his baby girl, Meredith Grace Duggar.
https://instagram.com/p/6c0JV0uWNK/?taken-by=joshduggar
After the Duggars enjoyed a weekend of fellowship, family reunions, and birthdays, they had to say a sad goodbye to Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard. According to Us Weekly, the couple dutifully returned to Central America to continue their mission work.
The Duggar family had a hard time letting their daughter leave the first time around, so fans of the family might be surprised to learn that another Duggar daughter, 17-year-old Joy-Anna Duggar, was allowed to jet off to El Salvador with Jill, Derick, and baby Israel. Joy-Anna also brought a member of the Bates family with her — Jill shared the Instagram photo below that shows Carlin Bates sitting next to Joy-Anna on the plane back to Central America.
https://instagram.com/p/6db7f-rswS/?taken-by=jillmdillard
Some commenters on the Pickles and Hairspray Facebook page have speculated that Joy-Anna will babysit Israel while Jill and Derick are in language school this month, and Carlin will be Joy-Anna’s “accountability partner” (Duggar daughters aren’t allowed to leave home without one). Radar Online reports that Jill and Joy-Anna’s cousin, Amy Duggar, is getting married on September 6, so the sisters will likely return home for the wedding.
Joy-Anna had a tough time saying goodbye to Jill when she first left for her mission trip, which was evidenced in the Duggar family’s awkward farewell video. She’ll probably be thrilled to spend time with her older sister, even if she is being put to work.
Do you think Josh Duggar was brave enough to attend the Bates wedding, and are you surprised that the Duggar family keeps doing so much jet-setting even though they no longer have a reality show to fund their flying?
[Featured Image via Jill Duggar/Instagram]
