Just before Ree Drummond took to Zoom to talk to PEOPLE, her daughter Paige had just walked out the door of the family ranch to change a tractor tire.
The A pioneer star’s youngest daughter recently returned to Pawhuska, Okla., to work with her dad, Ladd, as a rancher.
“It’s really great to have her home,” says the cookbook author, who launched Walmart’s new line of small appliances.
Ree Drummond says she felt ‘completely different than I thought’ when she found out she was going to be a grandmother (Exclusive)
But despite returning to work, Paige, 24, a student at the University of Arkansas, isn’t staying in Ree’s newly built home.
“She actually lives in the city, in a house that used to be my in-laws’ house,” Ree tells PEOPLE. “So in a way it’s nice that we still have that house, we didn’t sell it so she moved in and made it her own.” Ladd’s father Chuck, also known as Pa-Pa, died in 2022, while his mother Nan died in 2018.
Ree Drummond and daughter Paige.
Ree Drummond/Instagram
Ree previously revealed that Paige returned to work at the ranch full-time in January. Since then, he has been taking on the job day by day.
“As far as how long she’s going to stay or whether it’s going to be a period of her life or forever, we’re not really trying to predict or think too far in advance,” says Ree. “I love that it’s here. She’s the first of our kids to really come back and work on the ranch full time.”
Pioneer Ree Drummond says daughter Paige has officially returned home to ‘work the ranch full time’
Ree and Ladd are also parents to Alex, 27, Bryce, 21, Jamar, 21, and Todd, 20.
In May A pioneer in a blog post, Ree wrote that Paige “gets bumps, scrapes, bruises and bumps” at work. Despite the taxing demands of ranch work, Paige is able to support herself, Ree tells PEOPLE.
“She’s very strong, not just physically, but she has a pretty strong heart and personality, so it’s fun to watch her jump in and learn everything — not as a Ladd kid, but as one of the cowboys. Cowgirls, I would say,” she laughs.
In April, Ree gave her followers a glimpse of Paige’s ranch duties in a clip from Ree’s Food Network showA pioneer.
“Paige starts pretty early in the day,” Ree explained in the clip. “She arrives at the ranch from the city, fills her feeder, and then goes to the pasture to feed the cattle.”
Rea Drummond’s children Bryce, Paige, Jamar, Alex and Todd.
Paige pointed out that her life is very different from when she worked in an office. “I’m here with all the cows. So it’s definitely very different, but I personally love it,” Paige added.
Ree’s other daughter Alex also has many exciting life changes to celebrate. Ree announced that the 27-year-old and her husband Mauricio Scott are expecting their first child — Ree’s first grandchild.
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Ree Drummond.
Walmart
Ree recalled her raw reaction to the big reveal to PEOPLE.
“My God, it’s a completely different feeling than I thought it would be,” she admits. “Since we’ve become nothing more than empty nesters, Ladd and I feel like we’re just done raising our kids—we’re not even done! A couple of them are at university, so are we more raising our children.”
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Source: HIS Education