When it comes to family relationships, it's no secret that Jill Duggar hasn't been on the best of terms with hers — especially after everything she shared about parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar in her memoir, Counting the Cost. But apparently, things are going better than fans would have expected because Jill was spotted at the Duggar house on Christmas and even had husband Derick Dillard by her side for the festivities. This is pretty shocking!
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Jill's brother shared several photos from his family's Christmas celebration.
With 19 children and dozens of grandchildren, it goes without saying that Christmas at the Duggar home is always a giant affair. Though the Duggars are living more private lives these days, we did get to catch a glimpse of several of them when James shared photos from this year's celebration, including a couple of people we never would have expected to be in attendance.
Jill and Derick were featured in one of the photos.
Swiping through the carousel that James shared, we can see a shot that was taken in the Duggars' kitchen. Here, Jill and Derick are standing and chatting with Jill's brother, Jed Duggar, who appears to be holding his 1-year-old son, Truett.
We didn't see that coming!
Some fans were pretty surprised to see Jill and Derick there.
In a post about the Jill sighting on a popular Duggar subreddit, fans shared their surprise at seeing Jill there after her statements about how controlling her father could be — and her admission that, at one point, she wasn't even allowed in the house if Jim Bob wasn't also there.
"How in the world can she be there after the book and documentary?" one person wrote, while another commenter added, "I’m always worried she’ll get sucked back in to their delusions."
Others had a few ideas about why Jill was there.
Most of the theories revolved on Jill wanting to see her younger siblings because she's always made it clear that she misses them, while others thought Jim Bob may have invited her there to make himself look good.
"To JB it’s damage control and for Jill it’s the ability to see her family so she’ll give him that inch. He’ll end up taking a d— mile tho," one person said.
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Jill has been open about her hopes of reconciling with her family someday.
Back in September, Jill told Today that she would love to make up with her parents if it was a "healthy" situation.
"We do love our family ultimately, and I would love for my kids to have their grandparents involved more in their lives, but we also want to make sure that it’s a healthy relationship," she said at the time.
Hopefully, Jill celebrating Christmas with her family is a sign that the positive change she's hoped for is finally happening.
