'He Said, She Shed' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "He Said, She Shed"

• During family Bible time, Gil announces that he is going to need help with the dreaded task of cleaning out the shed. “Nasty and trash and metal junk and dirty stuff,” is Judson’s [very accurate] description of the shed.
• “Dad’s pretty good about go with the flow, unless it comes to where he has to get rid of some of his stuff,” says Carlin.
• “I can see value in things that nobody else can see,” responds Gil.
• Trace, who is currently putting the Dixie Stampede on hold and attending college, announces that he plans to try out for the Crown basketball team, and his family is thrilled.
• Partway through the shed project, Nathan finds the wire from the zip line the Bates had at their old house, and he starts to put it up for the little kids, but Gil puts that project on hold until the shed is finished.
• When Kelly calls Carlin over to help sweep, the boys take the opportunity to scare her with a huge, remote-controlled spider. She decides to spend her day painting lines on the basketball court so Trace can practice.
• “Can you believe the Bates are getting two things done at once?!” exclaims Trace.
• By the end of the day, the shed looks great, and Kelly is thrilled. “I have to admit,” she tells Gil. “Stepping back and looking at the finished project—don’t take this the wrong way—but I did not know you had it in you.”
• After the court is painted, Trace brings some of the basketball team members over to play a game. Lawson joins in.
• “Listen, me and Lawson get along in every aspect, except sports,” says Trace. “The problem is, he wants to be the star, and I just want the ball any time.”
• “I think going to Crown has really helped me get out of my box a lot,” says Trace. “Man, over there now, I ain’t that shy no more.” “We can’t get him to shut up,” says Nathan, smiling.

'Sibling Revelry' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Sibling Revelry"

• Gil decides to teach the new drivers some basic car mechanics. “Bates cars break down a lot,” says Nathan.
• “I’m pretty sure with everything, my mom and dad teach the first few kids, and then they feel like they’ve taught all of us, but they forget that they have 19,” says Tori.
• “It was great for all of us to learn some of the things that Dad told us, but really in all reality, we’re going to call Dad if our car breaks down because that’s what he’s there for,” says Carlin, laughing.
• Later, Erin, Whitney, Tori, Carlin, Josie, and Katie visit the jiu-jitsu instructor to learn self-defense, but they are caught off-guard when he has them warm up with jogging and pushups.
• They jog across the room, and both Carlin and Whitney fall into the wall at the end. Carlin makes two holes with her knees, on either side of a stud.  
• “Here we are with this little group of homeschool girls,” laughs Erin. “I mean, it hadn’t been five minutes, and we had already put a hole in the wall.”
• After the instructor makes sure everyone is okay, he teaches the girls how to block a punch, take someone down, and choke them until they pas out.
• On another day that week, Zach, Whitney, Erin, and Chad meet at The Cutting Edge Classroom for a cooking class. When the instructor announces that they will be making bruschetta with basil and mozzarella, as well as chicken piccata, Zach jokes that he should have taken an Italian language class before coming. They end up loving the meal. 
• “It’s always good to remember that no matter the amount of time that’s been by, no matter the hard things that you’ve been through, the good things that you’ve been through, you can always, always enjoy good food,” says Zach, sentimentally.

'Bobby's Movin' In' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Bobby's Movin' In"

• Tori and Josie return from spending their spring break in Florida with Bobby, and Bobby comes back with them to start looking for a job in Tennessee. Gil and Kelly are eager to help, but they might have ulterior motives.
• “My parents…if they sense the tiniest opportunity that they can keep their daughter here and add you, they go in full-on salesman mode, and they can make this area sound a lot like heaven, maybe even a little bit better,” says Zach.
• Later, Kelly and Katie take Judson and Jeb to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class so they can learn how to rough-house safely.
• “Me and Jeb were a little nervous about fighting,” says Judson. “I wasn’t,” retorts Jeb. “You don’t know what nervous means,” Judson responds. 
• Meanwhile, Gil takes Bobby to the new church building, which is still under construction. “Planting a church a few years ago was an endeavor we never anticipated,” says Gil. He offers Bobby, who will graduate in two months with a ministry degree, a position helping at the church.
• Gil also sits Bobby down and asks what his plans are for his relationship with Tori. They both agree that an engagement conversation will happen soon. “I just cleaned my shotgun real nice,” Gil jokes.
• That evening, Gil and Kelly take Tori and Bobby out on a double date. “I can picture them being a happily married couple one day,” says Kelly. “It’s hard for Daddy to picture only because he doesn’t want to do the parting thing.”
• “His dad jokes make him unintimidating because he’s just…corny,” Tori says of her father. 
• Bobby shares that some folks at the fire department have offered up their camper as an apartment for him. Kelly jumps on that opportunity and lines up a meeting.
• The camper is beautiful, and everyone, especially Tori, is thrilled that it’s looking like Bobby is going to be moving to Tennessee.    

'Road Trip Romance' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Road Trip Romance"

• Carlin drives more than three hours to visit boyfriend Evan Stewart just outside Nashville, Tennessee. Katie goes along as a chaperone. “I picked Katie to come with me because she’s really bubbly, and it was a chance for us to get to hang out, since I’m always at school,” says Carlin.
• After dinner with his family, Evan takes Carlin and Katie to his older sister Ashley’s house. She and husband Daniel are pregnant with their second child. (Evan has four sisters and one brother.)
• Daniel plays piano while Evan and Carlin sing a duet to a song Evan wrote about loving again after your heart has been broken. Carlin says she can relate to the song, although she is a bit nervous to sing in front of Evan’s family, who have a little family gospel group.
• Evan takes Carlin, Josie, and two of his siblings to Rocketown in downtown Nashville to take skateboarding lessons.
• Katie decides to sit on the sidelines and be entertained, but she is soon joined by Carlin, who has twisted her ankle. “If you get joy out of watching people fall, this is the best sport ever,” says Carlin.
• “To sum it all up, they all should have listened to the wise Katie,” announces Katie.
• Later, Carlin and Katie join in on a birthday celebration with Evan’s family at another sister’s house.
• Evan’s parents, Paul and Denese Stewart, sit down with them and ask about their relationship. “I really care about Carlin more than I’ve ever cared about any other girl in the world,” says Evan. “So I’m just anxious to see what the Lord does.”
• “I think it’s going great,” says Denese. “I know they’re taking it slow, and we’re just praying that it will continue to grow. And they might marry one day. We’ll just see.”
• Back in Rocky Top, Zach, Whitney, Warden, and Lawson take Jackson driving. “Jackson had called me and wanted me to take him driving, which was super special to me, just the special bond that we’ve had growing up together,” says Zach.
• Jackson has done some driving on the family’s property, so he turned out to be a smooth driver. “I’m super proud of Jackson, just watching him mature and grow up,” says Zach.

Recap: 'Summer of Love"

Bringing Up Bates Season 6 Premiere "Summer of Love"

• Erin takes Carlin, Tori, and Katie out to ice cream to catch up.
• Kelly gives an updates on the relationships. Tori and Bobby are courting and growing closer to each other. Carlin and Evan are not yet courting, but things could be heading that way soon.
• “Josie’s just a year behind Carlin,” says the mom of 19. It won’t be long before she’s trying to set her eyes on some fella. You better get your shotgun ready, Dad.”
• According to Erin, her brothers are picky when it comes to choosing girls. Nathan has been away at flight school, and he says he is still single but has female friends who may be prospects.  “I’m kind of scared he’s going to bring a wife back in that plane one day,” jokes Lawson.
• “Lawson, I think…he needs to wait like five or six more years,” says Erin. “He’ll be 29. That’s a good age. I think that’s good for him.”
• “I am really 100% focused on my music…but that could change any time…” responds Lawson.
• Trace is in college and is planning to attend Bible classes for one year, but he is still single. 
• Erin and Chad make a big announcement. They are having twins…twin goats! They purchase twin miniature goats for Carson to play with. 
• The Bates head to Clayton, North Carolina, for a wedding that no one saw coming. Kelly’s mom, Betty Jo (known as Meema), is getting married to a man named Tom! “This the happiest that I have seen Meema in, probably, I don’t even know how many years,” says Kelly.
• Kelly’s parents divorced when she was young, and Meema remarried, but her husband passed away.
• “I think it’s good to know that, at any age, no matter how old you are, you can still find love,” says Erin.
• Tori and Bobby will be singing "Red River Valley," a love song duet. They decide on the song at the rehearsal.
• On the day of the wedding, Meema is stunning in her glitzy blue dress. “It’s fun for me to see her that happy, especially knowing all the sorrow that she’s been through recently,” says Kelly. She and her sisters pray over their mom.
• Meema is smiling as she walks down the aisle. “It tickled us all when Meema kind of jumped the moment and kissed him before time, but it was just cute, you know, you want to see a couple in love,” says Kelly.
• When they are pronounced husband and wife, Tom and Betty Jo's kiss is long and affectionate. "I think it was so cute," says Kelly. "You want to see them a little bit frisky. That lets you know there's some affection." Gil laughs and says, "No problem there!"
• “I don’t think I can ever remember seeing my grandmother that happy,” says Erin.