Bringing Up Bates "Giving Thanks"
- At the big house, Gil and Kelly and the kids still living at home are working on cleaning up outside. As things start to open up, the Bates parents are eager to get the whole family together again, but they know it will be a while before that can happen.
- “I want to be safe, not just to protect the kids in my family, but also for us to be responsible to protect other people that we’re around,” says Kelly.
- “…My mom, she tries so hard to be a rule follower,” says Zach. “She wants to follow every rule and do everything right. So I figured we should all just stay at home and eat all the time because everybody knows you can do that.”
- Meanwhile, the Stewarts take a walk and discuss Layla’s health struggles. Layla was diagnosed with a small hole in her heart, and she has also had episodes where she struggles to breathe. ‘Nothing matures you more than being parents,” says Evan.
- At the Paine home, the kids are enjoying the yard. Erin and Carlin have wanted to do something special for Zach and Whitney, who have been keeping up with everything at the boutique. At the start of the pandemic, there was as spike in sales as everyone was cooped up at home.
- Erin drops a basket off on Zach and Whitney’s porch and then drives away and texts Whitney. The basket is full of snacks and other goodies. The card says that Erin and Carlin are going to provide free babysitting so Zach and Whitney can get away. “Erin makes the best basks, by the way, in the family,” says Zach.
- Nathan, Lawson, and Trace go horseback riding at the Bates ranch. Before the lock down, Nathan was flying to the Philippines every 45 days to do mission work. He has been in Arkansas training pilots but is now back in Tennessee visiting the family.
- The other two guys notice a ring on Nathan’s ring finger. “It’s a promise ring,” says Nathan. “And I guess it means that I’m promised to somebody, and there is somebody in my life, but right now I’m not really talking about it to the public.
- “I think the time is coming for Nathan, and I’m going to leave the bachelor group and move on to bigger and better things," says Nathan.
- “I think that none of them are going to get married and I’m going to get married first,” says Judson. “Hey ladies, I’m still single.”