Luke Bryan and Caroline Boyer Bryan: Everything to Know About Their Blended Family

Luke Bryan and his wife, Caroline Boyer Bryan, share two sons, Bo and Tate, and they also parent Bryan’s nieces and nephew, Jordan, Kris and Til. Til recently began college and Jordan and Kris are now adults, but the siblings lived with their aunt and uncle for several years after their dad died in 2014, following their mother’s death in 2007.

The Bryan family is incredibly close and often shares photos and videos of holidays, vacations and pranks on social media. Though the group has endured a number of tragedies, they all do their best to stay positive, inspiring their followers and making them laugh along the way. Keep reading to learn more about the American Idol judge’s family.

Bo and Tate

Bryan and Caroline welcomed Bo in 2008 and Tate in 2010. “All I ever hoped for was one boy and to have two, it’s going to be fun. I’ve already got new fishing spots picked out for us,” Bryan told PEOPLE when Tate was born.

The singer has indeed taught his boys how to fish, often sharing photos of the group showing off their catches. Last summer, the group went on a camping trip to Wyoming, which Bryan called a “bucket list” moment. “I was like, ‘I had the whole summer off,’ and I’m just doing some bucket list stuff,” he said on Live With Kelly and Ryan in July. “I loaded all of my boys up on my tour bus and we are hitting about ten trout streams out West that I have always wanted to fish with them at.”

Luke’s Sister Kelly

In 2007, Bryan’s sister Kelly died unexpectedly, leaving her husband, Ben Lee Cheshire, to raise their three kids. When Ben died in 2014 of a possible heart attack, Bryan and Caroline immediately took in Jordan, Kris and Til.

“We never thought twice about it,” Caroline told Robin Roberts of deciding to take in her nieces and nephew. “You know, it was never something that he and I had to sit down and talk about, you know, should we take this on? We just did it.”

Kelly’s Kids

Jordan was already in college when her dad died and Kris was in her last years of high school, but raising a teenager in Til was a new experience for Bryan and Caroline.

“We’re buddies now, though, kinda,” Bryan joked. “Until he makes me… that’s when I get onto him, I’m like, ‘Alright, you’re making me be an adult, don’t make me be an adult!’”

The Cheshires

The family dynamic changed with the addition of the Cheshires, but the group took it all in stride. “Bo went from being kind of the alpha male to being the middle child, but he takes it in stride,” Bryan told PEOPLE in 2015. “It’s been amazing watching them do so well with it. They treat Til like their brother, and Til does the same. And that’s what’s funny, is Til went from being the baby of his family to being the oldest. It’s definitely been a social experiment.”

Luke’s focus

“Obviously my nieces and nephew, they didn’t ask for this,” Bryan noted. “Their life was amazing before Caroline and I took a more prominent role, even after losing their mother. Now my focus is trying to do what we can to help them.”

Keeping positive

The family has dealt with other loss, including the death of Bryan’s brother in 2000 and the death of Caroline’s niece in 2017, but Bryan has found a way to stay positive and keep looking forward.

“I think with everything that’s happened in my family, I just have to lean on my faith and the understanding that God has a plan for all of us,” he said. “We just wake up every day and do our best. I’ll get down in the dumps, and then I’ll meet a Make-A-Wish kid, and I’ll ask myself, ‘What are you complaining about?’ You just have to keep your faith strong and rock on.”