'Counting On' Update: Dillard Family Mourns Loss of Grandfather, Celebrates 2nd Birthday of Israel

By Czarina Nicole Ong, Christian Post Contributor Friday, April 21, 2017

The Dillard family from "Counting On" have experienced some highs and lows in their lives over the past week. Through it all, they remain completely rooted in their faith in God.

Jill Duggar Dillard wrote in the blog that she shares with her husband Derick that Derick's grandfather passed away last week. She said it was painful for the Dillards to lose "Paw Paw," as he was fondly called, but that they remain comforted by the fact that he is now in heaven with Jesus and has reunited with his late son, Rick.

"We had just talked with him a couple of weeks before he passed. Thank you for your continued prayers for the other family members and us, including his wife of nearly 62 years," she wrote. "We will see him again one day."

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Amid their grief, Jill said they still had a reason to celebrate since their first-born son, Israel David, turned two years old just a couple of days ago.

"We celebrated over the last few days as a family and then yesterday with friends from church. We had about 20 of Israel's friends come to the 'hospitality house' (the home the ministry we work with is letting us stay in) for snacks, fellowship and a piñata," she shared.

As for her little bun in the oven, Jill said her pregnancy is now well into the "home stretch," adding that her son is so active with his kicking that he sometimes wakes her up at night.

The locals have already been calling her second son little "Samuelito," although they haven't shared what his name will be. They will be flying back to America soon to prepare for Jill's birth, according to PEOPLE.

She earlier revealed that her second pregnancy has a "level of ease" that was not present when she was still carrying Israel. "Derick and I have been down this road together, so we're comfortable. I'm just going to see how it goes, try to be healthy and prepare as much as I can. But this time I know that labor is unpredictable," she said.