Dog the Bounty Hunter's Duane Chapman Spends First Christmas Since Wife Beth’s Death with Kids

Duane Chapman, aka Dog the Bounty Hunter, spent his first Christmas since his wife Beth’s death surrounded by loved ones.

On Wednesday, the reality TV personality, 66, shared a glimpse at the grieving family’s Colorado holiday gathering on Instagram, six months after Beth died of complications from throat cancer on June 26 at age 51.

“Merry Christmas it’s unfermented wine,” he captioned the photo, which shows Chapman posing with four family members as they hold up glasses of red wine.

Last week, the Dog’s Most Wanted star opened up to Entertainment Tonight about honoring his late wife’s favorite Christmas traditions as they prepared to celebrate their first without her.

“Every little ball that’s on the tree, every ornament, you know, there’s 20 years plus of ornaments on that tree, so as I hung [them], I remembered where and when we bought each one,” he said.

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View this post on Instagram

Merry Christmas it’s unfermented wine

A post shared by Duane Lee Chapman (@duanedogchapman) on Dec 25, 2019 at 4:39pm PST

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One of Beth’s most revered holiday rituals, Chapman said, was to sing carols with her daughters.

“Beth knew every single [Christmas song], and she made us all listen to Christmas songs like two weeks before Christmas … every night before we went to bed she’d put them on,” he told ET. “So I think the girls are taking it the hardest without being able to sing with mom.”

According to TMZ, the family also planned to prepare several of Beth’s own recipes this year in honor of the matriarch, who used to do the cooking for the big day. Some of those dishes include deviled eggs with jalapeños, sweet potatoes and homemade apple cider.

In August, Chapman told PEOPLE Now that some of her kids are “barely making it” without their mom: “Each one copes differently, there is a few that are really barely making it. … We don’t know what to do … we weren’t prepared.”

Beth Chapman and Duane Chapman, 2015 | Ilya S. Savenok/Getty
Beth Chapman and Duane Chapman, 2015 | Ilya S. Savenok/Getty

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In addition to husband Duane, Beth is survived by four children: Bonnie Chapman, 21, Garry Chapman, 18, Dominic Davis, 34, and Cecily Chapman, 26 (Beth’s daughter with her ex-husband whom Duane adopted).

The family celebrated Thanksgiving together last month with Duane in charge of the turkey-making duties — a concept he told PEOPLE “freaked out” his children, who were skeptical of his cooking abilities.

“Several family members are coming for the meal and my children are all freaked out because I’m cooking,” he said ahead of the holiday. “The daughters will be bringing other dishes to go with the turkey. We always realize what the day of Thanksgiving means, so we all talk about the main thing we are thankful for.”

He added of carrying on family traditions: “I will never, ever be the same emotionally, because there’s a huge piece of my heart that isn’t there anymore. But I have to remain Dad and the Dog.”