Jenelle Evans is enjoying her Puerto Rican vacation with her family, including her mom, Barbara Evans, months after regaining custody of her oldest son, Jace, 13. The former Teen Mom 2 star took to Instagram on Thursday, June 15 to share a carousel of snaps from their time at Gozalandia Waterfalls. The cover shot from the excursion showed Jenelle with almost her entire family: her husband, David Eason, their 6-year-old daughter Ensley, Jace, who she shares with her ex Andrew Lewis, her 8-year-old son, Kaiser, who she shares with her ex, Nathan Griffith, and Maryssa, David’s 15-year-old he shares with his ex, Whitney Johnson. The only child missing was David’s 6-year-old son Kaden, who is from his previous relationship with Olivia Leedham.
“The other day was spent at once of the many waterfalls in beautiful #PuertoRico,” Jenelle 31, captioned the post. “Def visit here if you have the chance one day!” Other photos showed the family swimming in the refreshing pool created by the waterfall and even cliff jumping. Now that’s one fun family vacation!
Prior to the waterfall post, Jenelle shared a video that included compiled clips from the exciting day, footage of her and her kids playing at the beach, Jace catching a wave on a surfboard, and a boating excursion. She posted a slideshow of photos that showed her walking along the shore in a black thong bikini as well.
The family trip came just three months after Jenelle revealed she and her mom — with whom she had a historically turbulent relationship — decided to give her back full custody of her firstborn. “#MyHappyEnding , ITS OFFICIAL! Thanks everyone for the support! Words cant descibe how happy i truly am,” the reality star captioned a video of her signing the official documents. “Our family is complete now! Thank you mom.” She also added text over the video that confirmed her mom is “completely fine” with the change and ready to have her “freedom back.”
“My mom and I decided together to grant full custody back to me because we want to build our relationship back as mother and daughter,” the Read Between the Lines author told Us Weekly at the time. “Also, my mother agrees it’s time for Jace to be back with his siblings and living with a mother and father.”
She continued, “She also thinks it’s important for Jace to be around a father figure to learn ‘boy things’ and have ‘men talk.’ She has seen the way David parents my children and she knows we’re able to handle it. We want to all get along for the sake of the children and like I said before, building back our relationship as mother and daughter. We have officially signed the papers on Thursday, March 16th at the courthouse, it’s a done deal!”
Jace was born in Sept. 2009 when Jenelle was 17 years old, and Barbara gained legal custody of him the following year after Jenelle went through some legal troubles. She and Barbara fought for years over Jace on Teen Mom 2, with Barbra pressing that Jenelle was not equipped to take him on fully. It appears that the new custody agreement has strengthened Jenelle and Barbara’s relationship a hundredfold, leading to several family outings and the tropical trip.