Michael Discusses Jana's Wedding

Jana Duggar, who is one of Michael Keilen's closest friends, got married on Michael and Brandon's ninth anniversary. In their latest YouTube video, the Keilen's talk about their time at the wedding and their visit with the Duggars. They also discuss their trip to Nashville, the volunteer work they do at their local children's hospital, and some of Michael's early memories at Papa Bill and Mama Jane's beach house. Located in Myrtle Beach, the house has been owned by Gil's parents for more than 35 years, but due to Papa Bill's declining health, it had been a while since they had visited. They were recently able to make a special trip over there with Gil, Kelly, Lawson, and Tiffany.

Full One + One Music Video

Lawson Bates and Oliva Collingsworth

It's here! The official music video for Lawson's new single "One + One" has just been released, and you can watch it below. The video features Lawson, Carlin, Evan, and gospel singer Olivia Collingsworth. Olivia is a friend of both the Duggars and the Bates, and she sang the song "Holy Ground" during John-David Duggar and Abbie Burnett's ceremony last November. But before you start thinking that Lawson and Olivia should get together, we should mention that Olivia has a boyfriend. 

Photo/video courtesy of UPtv

Exclusive Bates/Smith Wedding Photos

Good morning, readers! Hope you enjoyed watching Tori Bates and Bobby Smith tie the knot last night on Bringing Up Bates. I (Ellie) had a great time at the wedding, and although it was a tight space filled with lots of guests, I took as many photos as I could.

As we approached the church, we were directed by several signs positioned along the road. 

When we pulled into the parking lot across the street from the church, several boys, some of the Duggars, pointed us toward the open spaces. The road between the parking lot and the church was busy, but the church had an underground tunnel connecting the two. It wasn't an especially large or fancy church, so we were surprised to see the tunnel.

Additional signs led us to the sanctuary.

The decorations were just beautiful. We took a seat off to the side--house left--so I could take a few photos without disrupting the ceremony. We sat near dress designer Renee Miller's fiance and enjoyed catching up with him while we waited for the wedding to start. Shortly before the ceremony began, we were joined by the entire Duggar family, minus Jinger and Jeremy.

The ceremony was lovely! The parents and grandparents were seated to "The Christmas song," the bridal party entered to "Silver Bells," and Tori and Gil made their entrance to "A Thousand Years." The recessional was "Carol of the Bells."

We got a great view of the sneaky little brothers who spent most of the wedding sitting in the empty balcony and then came down to shoot off confetti cannons during the kiss.

The reception took place downstairs, in the fellowship hall. It didn't look like a large space when we walked in, but it ended up being the perfect size.

We enjoyed meeting several new friends, who also happened to be blog readers.

The meal was a baked potato bar.

The lemon-blueberry cake made by Kelly's sister Kay was out-of-this-world-delicious...and beautifully decorated, too.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Smith soon arrived, and the festivities began. They cute the cake, and Tori tossed the bouquet. We laughed when Gil begged his kids to stay away, and then we laughed again when Josie caught the bouquet.

Tori and Bobby greeted all the guests in a receiving line, and then it was time for the sendoff.

 Myself (Ellie) with the bride and groom

Family and friends lined the hallway between the reception room and the front door and waved wands--made with wooden dowels, purple and silver ribbon, and bells--while Tori and Bobby exited the church.

If you enjoy this blog, be sure to visit Ellie's other blogs (NashvilleWife.com and DuggarFamilyBlog.com).

#TBT Big Sandy 2012

This week, the Duggars and Bates (as well as a bunch of other Christian families) are gathered in Big Sandy at the annual homeschool conference. (Visit our Duggar blog to view photos.)

In honor of Throwback Thursday, we decided to share this clip from United Bates of America, the short TLC reality TV series that the Bates starred in before being picked up by UP (no pun intended). The video features both the Duggars and the Bates and shows footage from the 2012 homeschool conference.

Photo/video courtesy TLC

Recap: "Organized Chaos"

Tonight on Bringing Up Bates, "Organized Chaos"...

• Gil and Kelly and the kids go through the lengthy process of pulling out winter clothes and packing away summer clothes. "It takes us all day to go through clothes," says Josie. "And sometimes another day," adds Katie.
• "That's mine!" is one of the most common phrases heard as the family sorts through clothes.
• Kelly decides to donate her maternity clothes. "I'm getting old, and there's not been a baby in a long time, and so I thought, we're just keeping clutter," says the mom of 19, who would still love to have another kid, as would the rest of the family.
• Kelly adds: "Somebody said, 'If you get rid of all your clothes, watch what will happen, you'll get pregnant.' So I said, 'Good idea!'"
• The Bates family prepares to sing at the Museum of Appalachia's Tennessee Fall Homecoming festival. To get the little kids in the mood to sing, Carlin and Kelly lead them in a round of "The Poochie Lip Disease."
• The evening before the festival, the whole family, minus Alyssa and John, gather to rehearse "In This House," the song they will be singing at the event. It doesn't go as well as they had hoped. 
• On the day of the performance, Kelly says she is most nervous about the older girls giggling and the little kids not being attentive.
• The performance turns out well, and the whole family is relieved. Carlin also showcases her yodeling skills, and Lawson sings one of his original songs, "Freedom Sure Ain't Free."
• When the Duggars helped the Bates add an addition onto their house back in spring 2008, the old part of the house became a storage room. Chad and Erin come over to help the family organize the space so it can be used.
• "We are great project starters, but Chad is a good project finisher," says Nathan.
• In the middle of the project, Michaella receives a text from her boyfriend, Brandon. "Brandon is my greatest distraction, and I love being distracted," says Michaella.
• "When Brandon texts, [Michaella] is no help around here," laughs Gil.
• The Bates boys pause the cleanup project to do home haircuts. Chad is a self-taught expert at trimming men's hair. "My brothers, they are very, very, very particular about their haircut," says Erin.
• "You are definitely the best guy that Erin has ever married," Gil tells Chad jokingly. The dad of 19 makes a point to reward his son-in-law for helping with haircuts.

Recap: "Meet the Bates"

Tonight on Bringing Up Bates, "Meet the Bates"...

• Gil and Kelly Bates, parents of 19 kids, got pregnant with Zach three months after their wedding. Like the Duggars, the couple has decided to leave the size of their family up to God.
• Even though they have a large family, the Bates insist that each of their kids has a unique personality, and they can tell you what makes each of them unique.
• Zach is the teacher/researcher. Michaella has a heart of gold. Erin is the organizer. Lawson is the family police officer. Nathan is everyone's best friend. Alyssa gets things done. Tori is a ball of energy and the family cook. Trace has a highly competitive nature.
• Carlin is high-energy and very expressive. Josie is quiet (when you first meet her) and caring. Katie is spunky. Jackson is always growing and thinking. Warden is always moving. Isaiah has a tender heart. 
• Addallee thinks of others before herself. Ellie is miss smiley. Callie thinks she is the boss of the family and is little miss sassy. Judson is a teddy bear and loves to cuddle. Jeb is full blast, 90 mph and can tackle his older brother Judson.
• How does Gil afford 19 children? He owns a tree-trimming service, a dangerous but well-paying job. Gil says his daughters keep telling him to get a safer job. 
• Gil’s older sons (Nathan, Lawson, and Trace) often help him with tree jobs.
• The Bates are planning a big family supper. Tori, the family cook, shares her view on meal preparations: "Here’s what I say: If you want to complain about it, get in here and cook it yourself. Otherwise, you shut your mouth and sit down and eat it."  
• Everyone but Alyssa Bates Webster and her husband, John, come over for the meal. Alyssa and John married in May and live in Florida. To make the distance easier, Kelly and the girls FaceTime with Alyssa frequently. Alyssa is the only one of the three married Bates children who lives far away.
• Life with 19 kids can be crazy, but Kelly, who is often referred to as the "chaos manager," loves her life. "If we wanted a clean house and no work and no effort, then we would have no children, but we would miss out on all the fun," says the mom of 19.
• Kelly sits down with Gil to discuss a budget for the baby shower they are throwing for Zach and Whitney and the baby boy they are expecting, whose name will be Bradley. The Bates' goal is to pull off a beautiful party while keeping the costs down.
• Erin shares the heartbreak she has gone through with her miscarriage. She and Chad found out they were expecting three months after their wedding, and their due date was a week and a half before Zach and Whitney's. They were devastated to find out at the first ultrasound appointment that Erin had miscarried.
• "The hardest thing was to see how much it hurt [Erin]," says Chad.
• Although Erin often gets emotional when her family members talk about Zach and Whitney's baby, she has decided to be involved in all the preparations.
• "It’s not about me," says Erin. "It’s really about friendship…making the other person feel special and important. And I want Whitney to feel special and important because I really am happy for her."
• Kelly and the older girls get together to address envelopes for Zach and Whitney’s baby shower. Whitney, who comes over to the Bates house often to help out Kelly, joins her in-laws. Erin and Carlin head to the store to pick up supplies for the shower.
• Zach and Whitney begin renovations on their baby’s room. Gil comes over to lend a hand. While they work, Gil shares parenting wisdom with his eldest son: "Bradley and Whitney are more important than anything else you are trying to do." 
• One of Gil's favorite mantras is that "people are more important than projects."
• While setting up for the baby shower, Kelly is informed via phone call that 17-year-old Trace has been in a car wreck. 
• "I know that the family has a tendency to minimize things when they tell it to me because I panic," says Kelly. 
• Trace is shaken up by the accident, but the rest of the family is thankful to find out that he has escaped uninjured. He had been driving too fast and had slid off the road.
• Everyone heads to the baby shower. Alyssa and John come up from Florida for the first time since their wedding. 
• The highlight of the shower is having all the married couples, each person with one hand tied behind his or her back, try to put a cloth diaper on a baby doll. Gil and Kelly are pros, but Zach and Whitney have a harder time figuring it out. 
• After the shower, Alyssa and John go back to the house with the rest of the family to make a big announcement. Alyssa is wearing a shirt that says "bun in the oven." Everyone is thrilled to find out that there is another Bates grandchild on the way! Alyssa is due in April. 
• "We’re the last of a dying breed…single guys," jokes Lawson, while sitting with Nathan and Trace.

New Bates Family Pictures

While driving through the hills of eastern Tennessee yesterday, we dropped by the Bates' house for lunch and fellowship.

Until five years ago, Gil and Kelly Bates and their growing family lived in a 1,700 square-foot house. Now, the Bates clan enjoys 4,600 square feet of living space, which includes a 2,900 square-foot addition built by the Duggars in 2009 as a Mother's Day present for Kelly.

 The Bates family home

Kelly Bates is able to carry on a conversation while keeping an eye on her many little ones and reprimanding as necessary. 

Kelly Bates with Addallee, Jeb, and Ellie Bates

 

Kelly almost always has a child on her lab and at least one by her side, as the younger ones enjoy cuddling with Mommy.

 

 Kelly Bates with Callie and Ellie Bates

 

While we chatted, the kids played in the living room, and although they were full of energy, they instantly obeyed Kelly and the older kids when told to calm down. 

 

 Addallee, Warden, and Jeb Bates

Two-year-old Jeb is the youngest of Gil and Kelly Bates' 19 children. This is the first time since the couple started having kids 25 years ago that they have had a two-year-old and no infant. Everyone is excited to welcome Zach and Whitney Bates' son, Bradley, into the family in October.

 Kelly Bates and Ellie

According to the older kids, Jeb is the spittin' image of Judson, who is one year older.

 

 Judson and Jeb Bates

 

We accidentally deleted the photo of Judson with the cone on his head, but this one is almost as cute.

 Judson Bates

 

Things are changing for the Bates, who have watched three of their children tie the knot over the past nine months.The kids say the house seems incredibly quiet with only 16 children living at home.

 Kelly Bates with Josie, Jeb, Trace, and Judson Bates

 

Zach and Erin and their spouses live nearby, but Alyssa moved all the way to Orlando, Florida, with her husband. Fourteen-year-old Josie, who was Alyssa's roommate and best friend, is looking forward to visiting her sister for two weeks in August.

Josie Bates and Ellie

Tori Bates, 18, is taking college classes while helping her mom homeschool the younger kids. 

 

Tori Bates and Ellie

 

Four-year-old Callie-Anna is as cute as a button with her "elephant ears," as she calls them.

 

Callie Bates

After we left, the kids grabbed their bins filled with school supplies and returned to their studies. Some of the children use A Beka DVDs, and others use traditional workbooks. 

 

Tori Bates instructs Jackson, Ellie, Addallee, and Callie Bates

 

Derick and Jill Dillard have a wedding in Tennessee this weekend and are looking forward to visiting the Bates. Too bad we had to leave just two days before they were scheduled to arrive.