Recap: Back Seat Bates

Bringing Up Bates "Back Seat Bates"

• Chad shows Erin the design he has created for the cover of her upcoming Christmas album, which she recently recorded in Nashville.
• The Paines reveal that this is not the first album cover that Chad has designed for Erin. Before they were "together,' Erin enlisted Chad's help in designing her Down Home Gospel CD cover, but she was secretly just looking for an excuse to spend time with him.
• "I jumped at the chance," admits Chad. "I saw an opportunity, and I was like, you know what, I've never done this before but I'm going to find out how."
• After finishing his training at that Blount County Regional Training Academy, Zach asks his instructors if he can bring his family back to give them a taste of what he went through. 
• The first item on the agenda is pursuit driving. Everyone grabs a helmet and piles into old Sheriffs cars. "They don't know what they in for," laughs Zach.
•  Carlin screams the entire time, as do many of the others. 
• " It was better than any roller coaster in the country," says Lawson. "These guys can drive."
•  Callie is quite upset to see her mom take part, as she's afraid that something is going to happen to her. Zach, the driver, promises to be careful. 
• "I should have gone to the bathroom first," comments Kelly. "Mom, please don't say that," responds Lawson. 
• Kelly reveals that one of her greatest fears is car wrecks. "I've got a house full of bad drivers," says the mom of 19. "I've got certain kids I won't even drive with."
• Kelly holds Whitney's arm and screams for Zach to let her out, but Zach keeps driving, laughing hysterically. "It's too bad he's too big to spank," says Kelly at the end of the ride.
•  The next activity, for the older ones, is target shooting, but first the instructor lectures them about gun safety.  
• Next, Zach leads the guys through an obstacle course, which leaves Gil on the ground trying to catch his breath. "My dad's probably the toughest 50-year-old I know," says Zach. "But man, it pushes you to your physical limit."
•  A day at the Police Academy leaves the Bates feeling very appreciative of their law enforcement officers and the instructors who train those man and women.
• Later, Lawson takes Kelly, Carlin, and Josie to the local children's hospital where he has been visiting sick kids. 
• The child who is most excited to see Lawson is AJ, a little boy with a tumor pressing on his optic nerve who has become a close friend of Lawson.
• Everyone fights back tears as Lawson plays guitar and sings with AJ and several other young children at the hospital. 
• "We've tried to encourage all of our children to be involved in some kind of ministry outreach that would be a blessing to other people," says Kelly.

Recap: "Windy City Newlyweds"

Bringing Up Bates "Windy City Newlyweds"

• Soon after Michaela and Brandon return from their honeymoon, Kelly, Carlin, Josie, Callie, Judson, and Jeb travel to Chicago for a visit.
• “When I first got to Michael’s apartment, it was a perfect little place, but it’s really, really small, which is fine; we started out small,” says Kelly. “But it was very crowded. They have a lot more stuff than they have places to put it, and it was too cute of a place to be cluttered.”
• The gals immediately start reorganizing the living room. 
• “What have you been doing since I’ve been gone?” says Brandon when he returns from work.
• “It took like an hour to decide if he liked it,” says Carlin.
• The next day, Michaela and her mom and siblings take the iconic architectural boat tour through downtown Chicago.
• “What a neat place to visit!” says Kelly. “Emphasis on Visit,” adds Gil, chuckling.
• After the tour, it’s time for Kelly and the kids to head home. “It’s always hard to say goodbye to any of the children, no matter what their age is,” says Kelly.
• Back in Tennessee, Erin and Chad discuss ideas for restoring an old hutch. Woodworking and restoring dilapidated furniture are currently just hobbies that Chad pursues in his free time, but he hopes to start a business in the future.
• “Restoring furniture, doing any project really, is a way to relax for him,” says Erin, as she and Carson watch Chad work. The finished product is incredible!
• The Bates family gathers to celebrate Zach’s graduation from the Blount County Regional Training Academy. The ceremony is delayed when Zach shows up late.
• One of the speakers at the graduation ceremony reminds the recruits that nothing is more important than their partner, both on the job and at home.
• It is an emotional day for Whitney and the rest of the Bates clan. “I was a proud wife because not many guys put their life on the line for people they don’t even know,” says Whitney.
• “We are all super proud of Zach,” says Nathan.
• The Bates family members, especially Whitney, admit that they worry about Zach as he works as a enforcement officer. “It makes me pray for him a whole lot more often,” says Kelly.
• “[Zach] has become the kind of man I think…everybody wants their son to grow up and be like,” says Gil.