Joanna Gaines Reveals Exciting Family Update Ahead of the Holidays
What To Know
- Joanna Gaines’ daughter, Ella, left for college in August.
- Ella will make her design debut in Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House.
- With two of their five children now in college, Joanna and Chip Gaines are spending more time in Colorado with their family.
The holiday season is in full swing in the Gaines household. Joanna Gaines has already put up her Christmas decorations, and she’s thrilled to kick off the festivities with her loved ones.
Joanna is busy prepping for Thanksgiving, especially in the kitchen, but she was able to share an exciting family update that will warm the hearts of all parents.
In a November 25 Instagram Story, Joanna shared a photo of her son, Crew, hugging his big sister, Ella. “Mom, is this a dream? Ella is home!” Crew said, according to Joanna’s caption. The HGTV star added, “She’s back from college.”
Their reunion comes ahead of Ella’s design debut in Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House, which premieres on December 9. The new Magnolia Network/HGTV show will see Joanna’s second-oldest child revamp the cottage on their new Rockies property. Earlier this year, Ella took the reins on the project, just before she started up at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.
“Over the past few years, Ella has really come into her own when it comes to developing her own personal style,” Joanna wrote for Magnolia Journal earlier this month. “I love her eye, so I asked her to design the small cottage adjacent to the main house. It was so sweet to share this experience with her before she went off to college.”
Ella is one of Joanna and her husband Chip Gaines‘ five kids. Her older brother, Drake, goes to school in Texas at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Duke, 17, Emmie, 15, and Crew, 7, are all still under the Gaines roof, so Joanna and Chip have a ways to go until they’re empty nesters. Still, Drake and Ella’s departures had Joanna feeling very emotional. She shared a glimpse at her family’s “last dinner together” on August 9.
“Thankful for the group hug and all the puppies to help me work through my wide range of emotions,” she captioned the Instagram post. “I love you kids so much 🩵.”
A few days later, Joanna revealed that Ella was headed off to school, posting an Instagram photo of Ella’s bags and cow stuffed animal. “Our little girl, all grown up. ✨🙏🏼🥹#headedtocollege,” Joanna captioned it.
Joanna elaborated on the change during an August 19 appearance on Today, explaining that Ella going away to college didn’t feel the same as Drake going back to school. “She went further and she’s my girl,” the Fixer Upper star said. “So, I thought, ‘Oh, I have this down with Drake. I already know.’ It’s totally different.”
A few months later, Joanna opened up about her family’s decision to spend more time in Colorado, where they’ve traveled to frequently over the years. “Somewhere along the way Chip and I started to wonder if Colorado was meant to be a bigger part of our family’s future,” she wrote in Magnolia Journal. “With the kids getting older and going off to colleges in different directions, we kind of loved the idea of having a central place where we could all gather together, a place with all the same comfort and intention and care as the farmhouse in Waco.”
Fixer Upper: Colorado Mountain House, Series Premiere, Tuesday, December 9, HGTV and Magnolia Network, Streaming Same Day on HBO Max and Discovery+
