Joanna Gaines Thanks Fans Since 'Fixer Upper' Final Season Announcement: 'We Really Have Saved the Best For Last'

Joanna Gaines is thanking Fixer Upper fans after news broke that the upcoming fifth season of the hit HGTV show would be the last one.

The Fixer Upper host, 39, shared a photo of herself and her husband, Chip Gaines, on Instagram Tuesday, a few hours after their final season announcement was made.

“Thank you all for watching, caring and cheering us on these past few years. We are overwhelmed by your support and your kindness. You have become a part of our story forever,” she wrote in the caption. “Season 5 of Fixer Upper is scheduled to start airing in November and we really have saved the best for last!0”

The couple revealed the news on their blog Tuesday, which came as a shock to viewers who have followed them on their journey from a small-town construction and decorating duo in Waco, Texas, to international celebrities.

“It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last,” they wrote on their blog. “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. 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.”

Since the pilot aired in May 2013, Fixer Upper has become one of the highest-rated shows in the network’s history. But being on TV is just one part of Chip and Jo’s home improvement empire.

Watch: Fixer Upper’s Chip and Joanna Gaines on How They Fell In Love

The couple’s growing portfolio of successful businesses includes retail compound Magnolia Market at the Silos (which draws up to 40,000 visitors every week); paint, rug, wallpaper and furniture lines; a quarterly magazine; a real estate company; a luxury vacation rental; a soon-to-open restaurant and a New York Times bestselling book, with a second, Capital Gaines: Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff, due out Oct. 17.

And if their fame and fortune suddenly came to a halt, well, they’d be okay with that too. “We’ve got everything that our hearts desire,” Chip said. “I don’t see how we could be happier.”

And the couple never wanted their children Drake, 12, Ella, 10, Duke, 9, and Emmie Kay, 7, to grow up in the spotlight.

“They’re so young, and we want to give them the chance to have a normal childhood,” said Joanna, 39. “Family is the most important thing in the world.”

For more on Chip and Joanna, including an excerpt from Chip’s upcoming book Capital Gaines, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.