Chip and Joanna Gaines’ decision to end ‘Fixer Upper’ is #familygoals

Only people like Chip and Joanna Gaines can break our hearts and then pick up the pieces in one fell swoop—which is exactly what they did on Tuesday afternoon when they announced Fixer Upper will end after its fifth season on HGTV.

“While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with,” the couple said in a blog post explaining the decision. “Our family has grown up alongside yours, and we have felt you rooting us on from the other side of the screen. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.”

It’s true the Gaines family has welcomed us into their homes—along with those they’ve been renovating—for these past few years. They’ve inspired us with their love, work ethic and, let’s be honest, amazing design skills.

But, as all working parents know, there’s always something that has to give.

“Our family is healthy and our marriage has honestly never been stronger. This has nothing to do with a fraudulent skincare line or anything else you’ll inevitably read,” the couple said. “This is just us recognizing that we need to catch our breath for a moment. Our plan is to take this time to shore up and strengthen the spots that are weak, rest the places that are tired and give lots of love and attention to both our family and our businesses.”

We already know the Gaines’ version of “rest” looks very different than it does for most of us: The couple recently announced they’re teaming up with Target for a new brand called Hearth & Hand with Magnolia, said they plan to continue their off-camera work and they even opened a beautiful rental called Hillcrest Estate in Waco, Texas.

While “rest” may be at their own pace, we couldn’t applaud them more for not only remaining so devoted to their family—but also for making this public statement about why that’s so important. It can be hard when you watch other people go, go, go with serious questions about how many hours they have in their days. But with the Gaines’ decision, we have a reminder that all families are operating with the same precious 24 hours.

And, thankfully, this is an easier pill for us fans to swallow because we know they won’t be going too far. As they ended their statement, “Who knows what the future holds, but we’re excited for whatever is around the bend and in the meantime, we will definitely be staying in touch.”