'Counting On' Star Joy-Anna Duggar Skipped The Family Thanksgiving, But She Had A Good Reason

TLC

Joy-Anna Duggar and her husband Austin Forsyth took a road trip last week with their son Gideon, and missed out on the Duggar family Thanksgiving. But it wasn’t because of any kind of family strife -- they were headed to Texas to spend the holiday with Forsyth’s family. The “Counting On” star took to her Instagram to post about the trip.

She shared a selfie of the three of them in their car driving down the highway. “Road tripping with my favorites! Excited to spend Thanksgiving with his family in Texas!,” she wrote in the caption. She added in the hashtags, “#thanksgivingtravels #texasbound #familytimeisthebesttime.”

Fans flocked to the comments with reactions. “Have a fun trip. Wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving,” one wrote. “Wishing your family a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels!” another said.

“Happy Thanksgiving!! You guys were the best couple last night on Counting on!! You both know how to work together!! That will help for years to come,” another person responded. “I love my home state, welcome to texas y'all,” a fourth fan wrote.

In the latest episode of “Counting On,” the couple went to a marriage retreat to learn more about improving their relationship. "I'm hoping to learn a lot, just in every aspect of our marriage 'cause, I need a lot of work," Joy-Anna said in the episode.

Austin later said that he wants them to take their marriage off "autopilot."

"Start actively investing into it," he said. "You have to work at it, just like everything in life. You wanna get good at sports? It's not just magically going to happen. I don't think people are just magically great spouses."

"My tendency when we're having a conflict... is, I will just be hurtful or whatever and then I'll clam up, I'll give the silent treatment, which is not right,” Joy-Anna Said. “I've been having to work on that. I need to communicate what I'm thinking and not just be like, 'I give up.’”

It seems the couple is now back from their Texas holiday and enjoying their new home. Joy-Anna posted another photo on Instagram on Monday and wrote, “We’ve got tons of touch up paint to do and a whole lot of unpacking, but so happy to be moved into our home!! None of our furniture/drapes/decor matches right now and we haven’t got our couches yet, but thankful to be out of the camper before we have another cold front move in.”