The Bonell family: Mum-of-16 from Australia’s largest family welcomes another new member

The mum-of-16 from Australia’s largest family has officially welcomed another new member into the brood (Jeni Bonell pictured)

The mum-of-16 from Australia’s largest family has officially welcomed another new member into the brood, after one of her daughters gave birth to a baby girl last weekend.

Jeni Bonell, 52, and her husband Ray, from Queensland, have a super-sized family consisting of 16 kids – nine sons and seven daughters aged between seven and 32.

Now, one of Jeni’s daughters, Brooke, has given birth to a little girl, who has been named Odette Faith.

The name Odette is a feminine name of French and German origin, meaning ‘wealthy’.

One of Jeni’s daughters welcomed a baby girl into her family (pictured) last weekend, named Odette Faith

‘I was so honoured to be able to be in the delivery room with my daughter. She was amazing. What a warrior!’ Jeni said (pictured with her daughter)

‘Last weekend we welcomed a new family member,’ Jeni posted on Instagram. 

‘I was so honoured to be able to be in the delivery room with my daughter. She was amazing. What a warrior!

‘And aw, look at those teeny tiny feet. So soft and fresh to the world!’

She wrote in another post: ‘Welcome to the world Odette Faith. Congratulations to Brooke and Jamie, Aurora, Remington and Zariella.

‘We are all very excited and so in love with this precious baby girl.’ 

It wasn’t long before the congratulations messages poured in for Jeni and her super-sized family.

‘Congratulations, I love her name,’ one person commented.

‘I love her name! She is so precious,’ added another.

Jeni Bonell, 52, and her husband Ray, from Queensland, have a super-sized family consisting of 16 kids – nine sons and seven daughters aged between seven and 32 (the family pictured)

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Jeni has a huge following on social media, where she shares the reality of looking after and feeding her large family. 

Previously, Jeni shared a snap that illustrates what it looks like for her to ‘pop to the shops for bread and milk’.

She usually does a huge supermarket shop at the start of the week to stock up on pantry staples, fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, spending an average of $450.

But the stock only lasts the family half of the week. Jeni returns to the store mid-way through the week to pick up essential items such as milk, bread and fresh produce.

Previously, Jeni shared a snap that illustrates what it looks like for her to ‘pop to the shops for bread and milk’ (pictured)

Jeni has made a name for herself for sharing how she looks after her supersized family, and what she cooks for them (meals pictured)

In one of her mid-week shops, she picked up six bottles of 3L milk, three loaves of sliced bread and an array of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The haul included 2kg carrots, four punnets of strawberries, two punnets of blueberries, 1kg grapes, 400g of cherries, 600g of grape tomatoes, 4kg potatoes, two salad kits, a punnet of peaches and a bag of apricots.

‘When you just need milk, bread and some fruit and vegetables,’ Jeni wrote on Facebook, alongside a huge grocery haul of her ‘quick shop’.

Her grocery bill came to an estimate total of $132.67.

Dozens of people were amazed with her shop, with one joking: ‘You don’t need to join a gym. So much weight training going on, lifting the milk jugs.’

To keep costs down each week, the mother (pictured) said she always buys homebrand items, stocks up on half-price products and buys fresh meat and fresh produce in bulk 

To keep costs down each week, the mother previously said she always buys homebrand items, stocks up on half-price products and buys fresh meat and fresh produce in bulk.

‘I tend to buy up whatever we need to make meals for that week to add to our supplies or if I have something that I find that’s on special or half-price or it’s a great bargain, then I will buy up on that product and we will stockpile it,’ she said.

‘We’ve bought certain ingredients to go with certain meals that we are going to make this week – and the rest of it is basically we are just filling the cupboards back up to what fits in the pantry.’

Normally the family would drink through 50 litres of milk per week, but Ms Bonell said last year they are trying to cut back on the dairy.

‘We’re trying to pull back on milk for a little bit just for budget sake so [I bought] six three-litre bottles, and we’re trying to get by with just 12 three-litre of bottles per week,’ she said.

This means the family is currently drinking 36 litres of milk a week.

To find out more about the Bonell family, you can follow them on Instagram here.