Do you have a lot to be thankful for? Because despite divorce drama, the Roloffs sure do! The gang joined hand in hand for an all-family Thanksgiving in Little People, Big World‘s Tuesday, May 24, episode — but there were more than a few bumps along the way.
A New Recipe for Family and Traditions
With brothers Zach and Jeremy both married, Molly off at college, and Matt and Amy having filed for divorce in 2015, the farm is definitely not the same as it used to be.
“This is going to be an interesting Thanksgiving, simply because there are a lot of families going on right now,” Jeremy said. “[Audrey and I are] a family, Zach has his own family, and with my parents’ situation, we might not all be able to be at the farm like we have done for the rest of our lives, so we will see what happens.”
And new families bring new traditions. Independent of each other (at least initially), Zach and Jeremy had decided to spend Thanksgiving with Tori and Audrey’s families, respectively, hoping that breaking Roloff traditions with a meal at the in-laws’ would avoid tensions present at the farm, not to mention please their spouses.
Hump Day Holiday for Amy and Matt
Zach confronted Amy about his decision to go to Tori’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving, and although he invited his mother to join the festivities, Amy was inwardly saddened by the news. She was equally disappointed about Jeremy going to Audrey’s parents’ house.
Amy said, “Going through divorce, this is really going to be my first Thanksgiving without anybody here, like no family. I’m torn as to what to do because I have never had to deal with this. It is a tough life moment for me right now because as much as I may not like change, I have to embrace what Zach and Tori need to start doing for them, and the same with Jeremy and Audrey.”
Even Zach understood that his decision would be hard on his mother, but in that moment, it was time for him to make a decision for his new family. “This will be the most difficult holiday season for my mom ever. Once she gets over this hump, she will finally get into cruise control,” he said.
Matt had a reaction similar to Amy’s upon hearing the news of Zach’s and Jeremy’s decisions. Matt knew that this Thanksgiving would be difficult because of the divorce, but he discovered another challenge. “We knew [divorce] was going to be hard, but what we don’t realize is that you have to share your kids with the in-laws,” Matt said.
Stuffing the Gaps With Community Service
Thinking that she would be alone for the holiday, Amy — in the spirit of Thanksgiving — decided to volunteer to cook and serve a traditional meal to the homeless. She stopped gobbling about her own problems and Thanksgiving situation, and instead made food worthy of gobbling down. What a pumpkin she is!
Stop Yammerin’ — Let’s Make the Divorce Final
While their dogs — who are best friends (weird for the near-exes!) — played together, Matt and Amy chatted. Matt said that he was finishing up some little details about the divorce, and expressed that he would like to get together and go over everything in the near future.
“I am anxious to get this divorce final and signed because I am tired of you bugging me,” Amy replied. “Let’s wrap this up, so that everything else can move forward.”
Molly Was the Marshmallow on Top of Her Sweet Potato Dish
Surprise, surprise! There is nothing like a happy ending with a dollop of gravy on top. Zach and Jeremy realized that they needed to have Thanksgiving at the farm, and then there was another surprise: Molly came home from college! Tori and Audrey’s families were both invited, and Matt and Amy could not have been more thankful to have everyone with them.
The kids opted to further take the holiday into their own hands by cooking the meal on their own. Jeremy decided to prepare the turkey, despite a serious lack of knowledge on even how to remove its packaging. However, he was very confident in himself, declaring that his turkey would be “known throughout the land!”
Smooth Like Butter on Warm Bread — for a Little While, at Least
Thanksgiving was finally going so well until … Matt and Amy had to stir up the pot with some bickering. Amy, helping the kids prepare the meal in the kitchen, noticed Matt already seated alone at the table.
She said, “OK, is he supposed to be sitting here waiting for everybody? Why is he just sitting here?” Matt responded, “Yeah, I’m waiting here … because it’s 6:30 p.m., and I was told that it was dinner.” Amy responded with, “You know what? Shove it up your ass.”
Matt told the camera, “Amy’s just notoriously late, and that’s one of the struggles with Amy and I through our entire marriage. When it was time for dinner, I sat down to try to keep everybody on schedule. And I think she was kind of pissed.”
According to Amy, Thanksgiving has no rules. So perhaps Matt was being ridiculous?
Attempted Turkeys in Roloff Pumpkin Bowl-a-Thon
But the fowl behavior between the soon-to-be exes seemed to pass just as quickly as it started. After all the drama surrounding the location, the guest list, and in particular Matt and Amy, the family sure did have many big thanks.
“Well, this Thanksgiving definitely turned out a lot different than I had expected, but I truly really enjoyed spending it with the kids, their new families. And whether Matt and I are going through a divorce or not, the facts still remain: It is Thanksgiving, and we are family, and we truly have a lot to be thankful for,” Amy said.
And the meal wasn’t the end! Matt had one last surprise — a pumpkin bowl-a-thon. He had enlisted Zach and Jeremy to set up makeshift bowling lanes in the barn, gather empty wine bottles for pins, and collect extra pumpkins as bowling balls. The night ended with some pumpkin-bowling strikes and some attempted turkeys (three strikes in a row, that is!), but luckily, Thanksgiving for the Roloffs turned out to be far from a strike-out.
Tell Us: Should Matt and Amy have done a better job of remaining civil on Thanksgiving?
Little People, Big World airs on TLC Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
