Bringing Up Bates "Milestones and New Chapters"
- Two weeks before moving to Nashville, Tori heads over to Erin's house for a cooking lesson. "I definitely need cooking lessons from Erin before I leave because I have a knack for always messing things up," says Tori. "I'm a struggling cooker."
- Erin admits that she didn't know how to cook a single meal when she first got married. She shows Tori how to make her newest meal: chicken breasts marinated in balsamic vinegar and garlic.
- The food turns out great, but Tori is still lacking confidence in her cooking abilities. Bobby and Chad join the ladies for dinner. "Me and Tori have always been close as sisters, and just at the thought of her leaving...it just really tears me up," says Erin.
- Meanwhile, Gil and the guys work on a tree job. "When Dad first started his own business, it was very humble beginnings," says Lawson. "This was Dad with a chainsaw and boys piling wood [and] hauling it with a little four-cylinder Dodge pickup truck."
- The older boys are getting busier by the day, so it's time for Jackson to learn how to use spikes to climb a tree. It proves to be much more difficult than the tree climbing that Jackson is used to, but he makes it up to the top.
- Later, the family attends the Crown College graduation ceremony to honor Tori, Trace, and Josie. Trace, who has completed the foundation for Christian life certificate, never saw himself going to college, but he ended up loving it. "College totally changed Trace for the better," says Josie. "It helped him come out of his box and kind of find who he was."
- Josie has earned her diploma in cosmetology, a two-year program. "I'm honestly speechless," says Kelton. "I couldn't be more proud of her."
- Tori is presented with a bachelor's of Biblical studies in elementary education, which took four years to complete. "I am literally so pumped out of my mind that I don't even know how to say it because I have been dying to be graduated for my whole life," says Tori.
- "Everybody is different," says Kelly. "Some of the kids have wanted to purse college, some have not. They're all different, and I'm proud of all of my children. But it does take a lot of perseverance."
- After the ceremony, the family and extended family gathers at the Bates house for a party. The next nine days will be spent packing Tori and Bobby's apartment and moving them to Nashville. "Any time I get together with my family or siblings, I treasure and cherish that moment..." says Tori.
- "Life happens too quick," says Nathan. "Changes are getting bigger."