'Bates Sports Special' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Bates Sports Special"

Look back at the Bates’ Most Memorable “Sports Spectacular” Moments...

“I don’t think any Bates would ever make it to the Olympics,” says Tori. But did you know that one Bates made it to the qualifying rounds? Gil was a high school state champion wrestler and qualified to try out for the Olympics.

Basketball
Trace is practicing for Crown College basketball tryouts with his friends, and Lawson joins in for a game. Trace and Lawson get along great, unless they’re playing sports. “When it comes to sports, the problem is, he wants to be the star, and I just want the ball any time,” says Trace.

Golf
The older guys take the little boys on a golfing outing. “Lawson and Nathan and Trace taking Jackson, Warden and Isaiah out to teach them golf makes me think of the blind leading the blind,” says Zach.

Mock Police Academy Training
The guys join Zach for a mock session of training at the police academy. “The main goal is to irritate you and make you mad and push you to the limit to see what you do under pressure,” says Lawson.

Downhill Skiing
Nathan arrives late, so Kelly shows him what she learned. “Nate, I’m going to be teaching you, but that doesn’t mean I know how to ski good, it just means that I remember facts good,” says Kelly. After a few minutes, Nathan says he’s ready to hit the slopes. According to Gil and Kelly, Nathan would have no problem going down a black diamond without a single lesson.

Ice Skating
Four days before he marries Michael, Brandon goes ice skating with his future brothers-in-law. The other guys enjoy horsing around, while Brandon takes it slow but still somehow manages to walk away with a gash in his head.

Wrestling
With the rest of the family watching, Lawson and Nathan each try to beat their dad at wrestling. Gil prevails, although Nathan still thinks he won.

Football 
Growing up, Gil was the quarterback of the high school football team and was consumed with sports, but he has higher hopes for his sons. “I think Gil loved sports so much, it was hard for it not to be number one,” says Mama Jane, Gil’s mom. “He didn’t want his boys to have sports as their number one. He wanted Christ first in their lives.”

'The Best is Yet to Come' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "The Best is Yet to Come"

• Tori, Carlin, and Josie are getting ready for a triple date with their guys. “It takes Tori, Carlin, and Josie about, probably two years to get ready,” says Callie.
• When Bobby, Evan, and Kelton arrive, they present their ladies with flowers, and then the three couples head into downtown Knoxville. “Kelton has lived here in Knoxville for quite some time, so he kind of knows all the cool places around here, and we’ve not really gotten around as much,” says Josie.
• Do the three couples have a chaperone? Gil and Kelly say they are chaperoning themselves and that they trust them to do the right thing. “Our goal is to help them be safe and happy in the long run, but really it’s got to be in their heart to want it as well, and I really do think it is,” says Kelly.
• “If I didn’t trust that they all had the right heart motive about it, they probably wouldn’t be going on a triple date at all, or any date,” says Gil.
• The guys, who are all 22 years old, take the girls to Blue Coast Grill and Bar for a meal.
• Throughout the day, Evan and Kelton are jokingly asking when Bobby plans to propose. He laughs it off, but in all seriousness, he actually does have the ring with him. He shows it to Kelton and explains that he told the Bates to be ready in case he decides to get down on one knee during the triple date.
• After the meal, the couples walk around the shops at Market Square, and then photographer and family-friend Taryn Yager pops out of nowhere to do a mini photoshoot. “I see Taryn, and I’m thinking, ‘Who in the world would invite a photographer unless something big was about to happen?’” says Tori.
• Bobby ends up deciding that the setting isn’t intimate enough for a proposal.
• Later, Bobby holds a meeting with Gil and Kelly to discuss the big day. Bobby and Kelly are ready for it to happen, while Gil jokingly says that he’s in no hurry and would be completely fine if Bobby waited another year.
• To clear his mind, Bobby hits up the disc golf course with Kelton after the conversation.
• Back at the house, Tori, Carlin, and Josie sit down to study, but the topic quickly turns to engagement. Carlin says she thinks Josie and Kelton could easily get married before she and Evan do. “No,” says Josie. “We’re going to take it slow. I’m so young.”
• In an interview, Lawson, Whitney, and Zach discuss the increasing complexity of Bates proposals and the fact that the bar is always being set higher. “Some of the proposals are more proposing to the family,” says Zach. “They’re coming anyways. You’re not going to shake them free. Evan a bad proposal isn’t going to run this family off.”
• On the day of the proposal, Bobby shows up at Crown College with his parents to surprise Tori. The surprise is successful, and Erin and Carlin pull Tori into a room to do her hair and makeup.
• Tori, Bobby, and Bobby’s parents jump into a convertible and head across the state line into North Carolina. Meanwhile, Gil and Kelly are picking up food at Louise’s Kitchen in Black Mountain. They set up a picnic at beautiful Linville Falls and wait for everyone else to arrive.
• After lunch, Gil and Kelly go on ahead to Wiseman’s View, where they set up rose pedals, candles, and flowers. Tori, Bobby, and Bobby’s parents arrive, and Bobby’s mom sneaks ahead to place the ring next to the flowers.
• Tori starts seeing the rose pedals on the ground, as she and Bobby walk down the steps to the overlook. “Every step down that trail, we’re getting closer and closer, and my heart’s beating faster and faster,” says Bobby.
• They make it to the spot of the proposal, but it takes Bobby a few moments to locate the ring. When he does, he grabs Tori’s hands and tells her how much he loves her. “Life is really short, and it goes by so fast, but I know I want to spend mine with you. Life is going to fly by, and we have so much to look forward to afterwards, but as long as we’re here on this earth, as long as God allows, I want you to be my wife. I want you to be the woman that I spend my entire life with. Tori Layne, will you marry me?”
• “It’s so pretty,” whispers Tori when she sees the ring. “I mean, yes of course! Oh my goodness, I love you.” The two hug, and the parents cheer from a distance before coming over to congratulate the couple.
• Tori exclaims how weird she looks with a ring, so Gil jokes that he's going to take it off and let her wait a few more years.
• “It was an absolute perfect day, and I could not have asked for anything better,” says Tori.

Bates' Classmate Missing in Knoxville

We hope you all had a fantastic weekend, whether you watched the Super Bowl or spent your Sunday doing other things. Yesterday, we received troubling news about a student at Crown College, the school that many of the Bates siblings either attend or have attended. We ask you to join us in earnet prayer.

Blake Smith, a 20-year-old student at Crown, has been missing since Saturday afternoon, when he was last seen leaving work. From there, he returned to his dorm room for a short time and then headed out to Admiral Farragut Park, where his parents say he was likely taking a hike. Blake posted a photo of the Tennessee River to his social media page, making that his last known location.

Later, his car, cell phone, and some of his belongings were found at a construction site in Blount County, where Zach Bates attended the police training academy.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Blake's family suspects foul play. A missing persons Facebook page has been created to provide updates. Those with any information should contact the Knoxville police at 865-215-7000.

'Erin's Surprise Takes the Cake' Recap

Bringing Up Bates "Erin's Surprise Takes the Cake"

• Erin finds out she’s pregnant and is thrilled but very surprised. That evening, while company is over, one of the guests presents Chad with a cake that has the message written on it. He is shocked.
• Later, Addallee, Ellie, and Callie come over to Erin’s to help bake a cake. “When we go to Erin’s house and we make something to eat, she literally lets all of us kids do it all,” says Addallee.
• While Erin and the girls are decorating the cake with strawberries, Erin breaks the news, and the girls are thrilled, especially because they are the first Bates family members, aside from Kelly, who had accompanied Erin to a doctor’s appointment, to hear the big news.
• Erin allows the girls to call the rest of the family and share the announcement. Kelly says she knows Erin is excited to be a mom again but certainly not looking forward to the intense morning sickness or the health complications.
• “I really always envisioned myself with at least three kids because I know me and my siblings had so much fun together, and I love the fact that we were close in age because we did everything together,” says Erin.
• Whitney has officially joined the Bailey and Co. Real Estate team as a REALTOR®! She has taken the three-week class, passed the licensing exam, and is ready to get to work. She brings Bradley and Kaci Lynn over to the family's house so she can go into the office, where she meets with her boss, Justin, to receive pointers for kicking off her real estate career.
• “I worked my way through college, and I was just kind of praying, ‘Should I go back to work? What options are there out there?’ Because I want to be with my babies, but I still would like to do something that helps people and gets out in the community. Real estate was brought up, and the Lord just kind of worked out every little detail.”
• Whitney’s schedule is very flexible, and she is able to do the bulk of her work from home or at the office on the days Zach is off. If she happens to have a meeting while Zach is working, both sets of parents live ten minutes away and love to babysit.
• “It’s like a daycare play care center,” says Zach of his parents' house. “You’ve got five little boys Bradley’s age and two or three little girls…all throwing toys and fighting and having fun. I am so excited for Whitney and so proud of Whitney for all the work that she’s put into this real estate license.”
• Trace is trying out for the Crown College basketball team, and a couple of his friends are over at the house teaching him basic drills. “Most of the kids have been doing it for ten, fifteen years…and Trace is walking in kind of cold turkey,” says Gil.
• One of the guys tells Trace that Trace's biggest obstacle is his negative mental attitude. He makes Trace do ten pushups for every negative remark, and before long, Trace's mental attitude has improved.