Hi everyone!
I hope this blogs finds you all well! I was asked to be the family blogger tonight because in tonight’s extra special episode, Brandon asked me to marry him! Brandon and I are officially engaged and we couldn’t be more excited!
All along, I thought I was the one with the surprise by planning a visit to DC…. little did I know, a master plan had already been put into place. Isn’t that just like life? Isn’t that just like God?!
Brandon put so much time, thought and love into our engagement. It still overwhelms me! My favorite part was when he explained the significance of the ring’s design. He designed my engagement ring with each of our initials (representing me and him) and each initial has three blue diamonds in it totaling six gems. Six is an incomplete number and in order to make everything whole, we need a center diamond representing God because God is love.
When he asked tears of joy poured down my cheeks! This was the love of my life, my crush, my dream, my “too good to be true” beau — the boy I had prayed for! This was the man I wanted to spend forever with and he was asking me to be his wife! What an inexpressible, indescribable, unfathomable privilege! God has truly given me the desire of my heart!
As most of you know, the show airs a little bit behind real life so since our engagement, we’ve been planning our wedding and counting down the days until we say “I do” to forever together! Current clock is 36 days, 13 hours, eight minutes and five seconds!
On behalf of my family, thank you all so much for watching and for your continued support!
Love,
Michaella (The Future Mrs. Keilen)
Welcome to the Bates family blog! Gil and Kelly have been married since 1987 and have welcomed nineteen children. Fourteen of their children are married. They have forty grandchildren with two foster grandchildren.
Showing posts with label Bringing Up Bates blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bringing Up Bates blog. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2015
Monday, June 29, 2015
Bates Family Blog - Swing Set Surprise
Hi y’all!
I hope everyone’s enjoying (or at least surviving) the summer heat!
In tonight’s episode of “Bringing Up Bates,” the kids finally got a swing set! I’ve wanted one at the house for the longest time and the fact that we were able to pull it off as a surprise was a miracle in itself. It’s hard to keep a secret in this family!
As parents, we try to seek out learning opportunities for our children and it seems we never have to go very far to find them! Here’s the latest life-lesson stop on the way to “Bringing Up Bates”
and a few things that didn’t make the show…
When we need to make a family decision, sometimes we take a family vote. Our little ones love to be involved in making “grown-up” decisions and as parents, it’s important to us that our kids feel involved and heard. So, the latest case on the Bates family docket was finding a place for our chickens to live. That’s right, we now have chickens!
In our family, there’s never a shortage of opinions but at some point, we have to settle on one decision. Even when majority rules, someone is bound to get their feelings hurt or feel disappointed. When this happens, we encourage everyone to choose better attitudes. Rarely is it easy to go from being disappointed to feeling encouraged but all things are possible with God and we teach the kids that an attitude isn’t a feeling, it’s a decision. The most important thing is that we’re a family that works through whatever life brings us, be it big or small, together.
How does all of this relate to tonight’s episode? Well, the swing set was the result of working together toward a common goal and learning the lesson that when you think of others before yourself, somewhere down the road, you’ll reap the kindness you’ve sown!
On another note, I had so much fun house hunting with my mom because it means we are one step closer to her moving here. I know she wants to be with her grandkids and we are all just as anxious! Now, we just have to find the right house so that dream becomes reality.
Love,
Kelly Jo
I hope everyone’s enjoying (or at least surviving) the summer heat!
In tonight’s episode of “Bringing Up Bates,” the kids finally got a swing set! I’ve wanted one at the house for the longest time and the fact that we were able to pull it off as a surprise was a miracle in itself. It’s hard to keep a secret in this family!
As parents, we try to seek out learning opportunities for our children and it seems we never have to go very far to find them! Here’s the latest life-lesson stop on the way to “Bringing Up Bates”
and a few things that didn’t make the show…
When we need to make a family decision, sometimes we take a family vote. Our little ones love to be involved in making “grown-up” decisions and as parents, it’s important to us that our kids feel involved and heard. So, the latest case on the Bates family docket was finding a place for our chickens to live. That’s right, we now have chickens!
In our family, there’s never a shortage of opinions but at some point, we have to settle on one decision. Even when majority rules, someone is bound to get their feelings hurt or feel disappointed. When this happens, we encourage everyone to choose better attitudes. Rarely is it easy to go from being disappointed to feeling encouraged but all things are possible with God and we teach the kids that an attitude isn’t a feeling, it’s a decision. The most important thing is that we’re a family that works through whatever life brings us, be it big or small, together.
How does all of this relate to tonight’s episode? Well, the swing set was the result of working together toward a common goal and learning the lesson that when you think of others before yourself, somewhere down the road, you’ll reap the kindness you’ve sown!
On another note, I had so much fun house hunting with my mom because it means we are one step closer to her moving here. I know she wants to be with her grandkids and we are all just as anxious! Now, we just have to find the right house so that dream becomes reality.
Love,
Kelly Jo
Friday, June 19, 2015
Erin's blog: Fearful Times Turn Into Overwhelming Joy
Hi everyone! It’s been entirely too long since my last blog post but things have been pretty busy round’ here! 
For those of you who have followed our story, you know our journey to becoming parents has been filled with heartbreak. Having already been through three heartbreaking miscarriages, I can honestly say, I never knew suffering like I know it now.
In tonight’s show, I was in the last trimester of my pregnancy and Dr. Vick talked to Chad and I about the risk of stillbirth due to a genetic blood-clotting condition I have. Needless to say, hearing the word “stillbirth” sent a cold chill down my spine.
In times like these, you can’t help but feel fearful and helpless because everything is out of your control and you don’t know the answers to your questions and you don’t know how things are going to turnout. It was just all too much for us to handle! The only thing we knew to do was to pray and trust God that He might grant us the incredible honor of being parents to the miracle that was growing inside me.
After months of injections, lost appetite, complete nausea and a myriad of other insufferable symptoms… Charles Stephen IV was born on May 14. We finally met our baby boy and to know that he’s here and he’s healthy is everything. To say that we are in-love with Carson would be a complete understatement! We are wholeheartedly overjoyed!
God has taught us so much throughout this journey and through it, we were able to draw closer to Him and closer to each other. We may never know the answers to all of life’s questions but we can rest knowing that God does.
“We prayed for this child and the Lord has granted us what we asked of Him.” – 1 Samuel 1:27
For those of you who have followed our story, you know our journey to becoming parents has been filled with heartbreak. Having already been through three heartbreaking miscarriages, I can honestly say, I never knew suffering like I know it now.
In tonight’s show, I was in the last trimester of my pregnancy and Dr. Vick talked to Chad and I about the risk of stillbirth due to a genetic blood-clotting condition I have. Needless to say, hearing the word “stillbirth” sent a cold chill down my spine.
In times like these, you can’t help but feel fearful and helpless because everything is out of your control and you don’t know the answers to your questions and you don’t know how things are going to turnout. It was just all too much for us to handle! The only thing we knew to do was to pray and trust God that He might grant us the incredible honor of being parents to the miracle that was growing inside me.
After months of injections, lost appetite, complete nausea and a myriad of other insufferable symptoms… Charles Stephen IV was born on May 14. We finally met our baby boy and to know that he’s here and he’s healthy is everything. To say that we are in-love with Carson would be a complete understatement! We are wholeheartedly overjoyed!
God has taught us so much throughout this journey and through it, we were able to draw closer to Him and closer to each other. We may never know the answers to all of life’s questions but we can rest knowing that God does.
“We prayed for this child and the Lord has granted us what we asked of Him.” – 1 Samuel 1:27
Friday, June 12, 2015
Bates family blog: “I Love You Day” Gift Giving – Bates Style
The Bates family celebrates Valentine’s Day in a unique and creative way. Instead of flowers, chocolates and conversation heart candy for all, they give a gift to a family (or extended family) member to show their appreciation for them. It’s just a small way to say “I love you.”
When you have a family with 19 kids — including three married couples — there’s a lot of giving going on… and keeping track of who gave who what can make for a lengthy list!
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| Photo credit: UP TV |
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Six weeks to go!
We only have six more weeks until the new season of Bringing Up Bates. We are super excited.
Now here is the schedule!
Tuesday: Preview of the upcoming episode
Thursday: Recap, Bringing Up Bates blog
Now here is the schedule!
Tuesday: Preview of the upcoming episode
Thursday: Recap, Bringing Up Bates blog
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