Ree Drummond has plenty to be proud of at home, because even though her kids are all grown up, they frequently return to her Pawhuska, Oklahoma estate for family fun. The Pioneer Woman hostess and her husband, Ladd, share five kids: Alex, 26, Paige, 24 Bryce, 21, Jamar, 21, and Todd, 19.
Raising five kids may seem overwhelming, but the Food Network star looks at her busy life with optimism: “If you can just embrace the chaos and the funny parts, and really just kind of hang on and enjoy the ride, that’s what motherhood is,” Ree said in 2010.
In 2024, their family grew once more with the arrival of Alex’s first child, a daughter named Sofia Marie.
From at-home gatherings to shared adventures, see the Drummond family’s unbreakable bond in photos.
Grandma Duties
In December 2024, Ree’s family grew in a new way when she became a first-time grandma with the birth of Alex’s first child, a daughter named Sofia Marie.
“Our first baby had her first baby. Thank you Lord, we will never be the same,” Ree captioned a photo of herself carrying the newborn alongside her husband.
Where the Heart Is
Throughout the year, Ree and Ladd bring their troop together to celebrate holidays and take part in some of their favorite holiday traditions, like wearing matching pajamas at Christmas time and cooking their favorite meals.
Sometimes, however, the kids come back simply to soak up some family quality time. Alex, who now works for her mother’s brand, shared a May roundup of photos with her mom, dad and siblings from a few days spent at home. “Where the ❤️ is :),” she captioned her post.
Never Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen
In April 2023, the Drummonds joined to celebrate Easter at the home of Ladd’s late parents, Chuck and Nan. Ree shared a few sweet snaps of the group, including one with her daughters Alex and Paige as they stirred up a less-than-traditional meal for the family.
“Easter at Chuck & Nan’s house, the way it’s always been. We miss them, they loved Easter,” the blogger wrote on Instagram. “But so great to be together—our big, wacky crew. We skipped the ham and sides and wound up doing biscuits and gravy on paper plates. Maybe paper plates are why I’m smiling in these pics? 😂 Happy Easter, friends! ❤️”
Always a Good Time
But with five busy kids out in the world, it isn’t always easy to align schedules so everyone can be in the same room at once. In 2021, the eldest Drummond sibling Alex was missing from the annual pajama picture, having spent the holidays with her husband Mauricio Scott’s family.
“The way that we’re doing this whole marriage-holiday-thing is we’re doing Thanksgiving with one of our families every year, and then Christmas with the other family, and it’ll flip-flop,” Alex explained on Instagram at the time, per her mom’s Pioneer Woman blog. “So next year we’ll do Christmas with my family.”
More to Love
In 2018, the Drummonds welcomed a new member to their family when Ree and Ladd became foster parents to Jamar Goff. He originally entered their home as Todd and Bryce’s football teammate, but after an ATV injury left Goff in need of support, he became an instant member of the tight-knit squad.
“Jamar’s accident, while terrible, did wind up having an unexpected benefit for our newly modified family: It forced all of us to get pretty darn close, and fast,” Ree wrote in her book, Frontier Follies.
She continued, “We were all up in Jamar’s business, and if there’d been any hesitation on any of our parts to interact and get comfortable with one another, his injury quickly knocked down those walls and gave us all a reason to come together. Jamar had to learn to trust us.”
A Mother’s Love
Now that Todd is out of the nest, he’s following in his big brother’s footsteps and playing football for the University of South Dakota Coyotes. And just like Bryce, the youngest Drummond sibling has his family’s support behind him. Ree shared an adorable photo from one of Todd’s fall football games this year and opened up about life as an empty nester.
“In this photo from last Saturday, I am displaying the classic goofy, dreamy, I-get-to-see-my-kid-for-two-whole-hours empty nest sad-but-happy mom smile,” the cookbook author wrote alongside a photo with her son in his uniform. “Let me know if you get it. (I love you, Todd.❤️)”
Perfect Match
Ree and Ladd have been together since 1996, but now that their kids have flown the nest, they’re finding new ways to spend time together. Per Ree’s Instagram posts, the long time pair has enjoyed “new activities” and romantic outings. On what the TV star called “Empty Nest, Day 14,” she and Ladd dressed up to attend a wedding.
“He looked handsome and had beer in a glass!” Ree captioned her social media update from the event.
Big, Happy Family
During the pandemic, Ree’s kids rallied to help their kitchen star mother continue filming through stay-at-home orders.
“It’s been an incredible bonding experience for the kids and me,” she said at the time.
Bonded Forever
Alex gave her Instagram followers a glimpse into her familial bonds when she answered questions about their sibling dynamics in a series of Instagram stories. The eldest of the five noted that she and the youngest, Todd, are particularly close despite their age gap.
“Todd and I are more similar and then Bryce, Paige and Jamar are more similar,” Alex explained. “We kind of have that connection.”
Better Together
Still, Alex elaborated, the five of them “have a really fun dynamic” as a group.
“I feel like I have a unique and fun relationship with each and every one of my siblings and even though we’re all very different personality-wise, we all just have so much fun together,” Drummond’s daughter — and colleague — said on social media. “I feel like I am more myself with my siblings than I am with anyone.”
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