Bringing Up Bates "The Maine Event"
- Carlin, Evan, Gil, Kelly, and Evan’s parents (Paul and Denese
Stewart) arrive in Portland, Maine, for the big proposal weekend. Their first
order of business is picking up lobster at Portland Lobster Co. Evan is eager
to try a lobster roll, but Carlin orders a cheeseburger. Evan holds a live
lobster and convinces Carlin to touch it.
- Carlin and Evan rent bikes and leave their parents behind. “Alright
Evan,” says Kelly. “See all these people? That’s going to be your chaperone for
now. That’s your chaperone for now until we catch up.” Carlin says they have
God as their chaperone.
- The lovebirds take a trail along the water but end up
getting lost. “You know what?” jokes Gil. “They may have run off without us. That
could be bad.” They finally make it to the picnic spot where the parents are
waiting, and they all eat their lunch. Carlin tries a piece of lobster but
doesn’t love it.
- After the picnic, Evan asks Carlin if she has a fancy outfit
to put on for the activities he has planned for the evening. At this point, Carlin
knows that the engagement is just hours away.
- The group goes back to their rental house to change. Kelly,
Gil, and Evan’s mom arrive at Portland Head Lighthouse 30 minutes early to set
up flowers and a table. Back at the house, a chauffeured limo picks up Carlin
and Evan and drops them off at the lighthouse.
- “I don’t think anyone realizes the blind faith I have going
into this,” admits Evan. “Even Carlin, I don’t think she realizes it. She
thinks everything’s just perfectly under control, and I’m here sweating under
my suit coat. I’m looking for my parents, her parents. I’m not even sure where
they set up.”
- When the couple makes it to the proposal site, the cellist starts
playing. Evan reads a poem that he wrote called “My One:”
- “I could list a million reasons why you’re the one for me and
a million reasons more why I love you tenderly. From your hair to your smile to
your heart that’s made of gold, I love every part of you with a love that won’t
grow old…I need you in my life cause you’re the very air I breathe…I thank my
God above that I’m as blessed as a man could be cause out of every guy on earth,
He made you just for me. Now as I’m standing here with my love so strong and
true, I have a special question I’ve been meaning to ask you. It’s just five
simple words, but they’re filled with much romance. So Carlin Brianne Bates,
may I have this dance?”
- At that point, Carlin is smiling, laughing, and crying as
she says, “I don’t know how to dance!” But they pull it off.
- After their dance, Evan says, “I love you so much. You’re my
best friend, you’re my girlfriend, and I hope you’ll be my fiancée.” He gets
down on one knee and asks the big question: “So Carlin Brianne Bates, will you
marry me?”
- And of course, she says yes! They embrace, and he puts the
ring on her finger. After a few moments, they call the parents over for hugs. “There
were a lot of tears, a lot of tears on both sides,” says Kelly. The sun is setting,
so the lighting is perfect for photos.
- “We love Carlin,” says Denese. “I think she fits perfectly
with our family.”
- “We’re not just gaining a daughter,” laughs Paul. “We’re
gaining about 40 people.”
Bringing Up Bates "A Sweet Shower & a Surprise Switch"
- Kelly and Josie are back in New York City for Josie’s dress
fitting. “I am hoping that it fits because there’s a lot of changes that
we made that I’m not really sure what they’re going to look like, but I think
it’s going to be great, hopefully,” says Josie.
- “Oh my word,” says Kelly when she sees her daughter in the gown.
“Josie, that is more beautiful than I even imagined.” Both she and Josie love
it.
- “I could not be any happier,” says Kourtney Wilson, Josie's bridal
consultant.
- Back in Tennessee, Evan’s mom gives him some impromptu dance
lessons to prepare for the proposal. “Just the fact that neither of you really
know how to dance…it’s just adorable if you step on each other’s toes or don’t
do it right,” says Erin. “It’s okay, it’s not about being perfect, but just
about…making her dreams come true.” Erin has payed a big role in helping Evan plan
the proposal.
- Twenty days before the wedding, Kelly and the girls host a
tea party bridal shower for Josie (even though Josie is more of a coffee
drinker). With all the babies and weddings the Bates have had, it has become
difficult to find a new theme for each shower.
- “A Bates party is always a late party,” says Kelly. “Guests
are coming in, and we’re hanging the decorations, but that is typical for a
Bates party.”
- The ladies compete in a game of “sniff the teabag.” The goal
is to identify each type of tea by smelling the bags.
- Carlin, Erin, Whitney, and Ellie end up winning, even though
their process of elimination strategy is a little suspect.
- Josie is thrilled about all her gifts, and she shows it as
she opens them. “Honestly, now I think everything feels real,” says Josie. “The
wedding is coming.”
- “You’ve got an iron and an ironing board, now you’re ready
to get married,” jokes Kelly.
- “Kelton’s going to love it,” laughs Josie. “He loves ironing
stuff. I never iron anything.”
- Kelly and Carlin drive to Nashville to watch Lawson and
family-friend Oliva Collingsworth record at Black River Sound Stage, and Tori
comes to join them. Kelly and Lawson are clued in on a big surprise that is
about to go down, but Carlin and Tori are clueless.
- Evan is extremely nervous as he waits to enter the studio. Lawson
is able to sneak him into the sound booth, and he starts singing a little jingle:
“I got your bags packed and the plane tickets in hand. I know you’re confused,
so I’ll help you understand. I’ve got a getaway trip that’s already been planned,
so I’ll bring you as my girl and me as your man. This is the when. You don’t
know the where, but I promise, girl, when we get there, you won’t know what to
say when you see the surprise. So are you ready to take the trip to the time of
our lives?”
- Carlin is shocked and says later that her face looks like that of a “dying
duck.” She runs into Evan’s arms. Evan has also purchased Carlin a new
suitcase.
- Tune in next week to watch the rest of the proposal. “I made
sure to take all my rings off here, just in case,” laughs Carlin.
Bringing Up Bates "A Proposal to Plan & Wedding To-Dos"
- Evan meets up with Kelly and Erin at Erin’s house to make an
engagement plan. “Evan is coming to Erin and my mom for advice because they’re
really close to Carlin,” says Callie. “[Evan] doesn’t know everything.”
- Zach weighs in: “I’m kind of against these guys going to all my sisters and
all the women in the family and getting advice on how to do their engagement
because each time the girls see one, they’re like, ‘We could go even bigger
next time.’ And by the time poor Callie gets married, they’re going to have to
do some kind of marriage on Mars or engagement in space, something like that,
doing it in orbit.”
- “When Carlin told him, ‘Ask Erin and ask my mom,’ I knew we
were in trouble,” says Gil. “We might be just a wee bit over the top,” admits
Kelly, who comes up with the idea of a Maine lighthouse backdrop.
- Erin says the highlight of the proposal for Carlin is going
to be dancing with Evan. Gil and Kelly admit that they don't do much dancing
in their household, so it’s really going to be a “first dance.”
- Next, it's time for a Bates family cook-off! “My family loves competition,” says Erin.
- “We love food, and
if we’re going to hang out, we should eat,” says Zach. “Why not get together
and have a competition about food?”
- Lawson, Erin, and Zach compete to see who can make the best
chicken dish with a veggie side, while Callie, Ellie, Judson, and Jeb judge
based on taste and appearance.
- Erin amazes everyone by coming in with her veggies “pre-diced
and cut up all pretty,” as Zach puts it.
- Zach makes stuffed mushrooms and jalapeno popper chicken. Erin
prepares chicken stuffed with rainbow colored veggies. Lawson, on the other
hand, is “cooking to please the judges,” says Kelly. He makes fried
chicken with mac n cheese.
- Zach comes in third with 52 points. Lawson comes in second
with 66, and Erin wins with 69.
- “These small children have never been to a fancy dinner,” states
Zach. “They don’t know anything about plating.”
- Judson’s opinion is that “the cooks should have made bacon
and eggs.”
- Later, Kelly and Josie meet with Kim at the outdoor wedding
venue that they have chosen. Josie is concerned about rain, but she still
really wants an outdoor wedding.
- Soon after Zach and Whitney find out that they have
miscarried their third child, Erin and Chad and the kids come over for a visit.
Zach explains to the children that they are going to plant a dogwood tree to show
that “life is still there, and it’s still growing. Even when it don’t look like
it’s moving, you’ll come back out here in years, and that tree will be a lot bigger,
and it’s going to bloom every spring with flowers and remind us of the little lives
that are up there in heaven.”
- Zach says that the miscarriage “broke Bradley’s heart.” But Bradley believes that Jesus will
put another baby in Mommy's belly.
- “The tree is just a significant reminder of, not just the
bad times, but also how good God is to us,” says Whitney.
