Showing posts with label Duggars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duggars. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

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.



Thursday, February 5, 2015

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.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

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.