Bringing Up Bates "Courtship, Kiddos and Future Sons-In-Law?"
- The Bates are packing for a four-day trip to Adventures on the Gorge in West Virginia. The Websters won’t be able to make it, and neither will Josie, who is finishing up summer school. “Carlin is really excited about Evan coming,” says Callie.
- As far as Tori knows, Bobby is not able to make it, as he had something come up at work.
- “You know, when the kids were little and there was only one mom and one dad and one car…it was a lot easier,” says Gil. “Now, we’ve got kids everywhere, and we’ve gotta take two cars at two different times because of everybody’s responsibilities.”
- When Evan arrives, Carlin has to fight her dad and the little kids to get the first hug. Evan’s sister Kailyn comes along, as well.
- When Kelly and the first batch of Bates arrives at the resort, Kelly, Tori, and a few others walk into the lobby to check in. “Tori was a little bit mopey,” says Jackson. “She was probably sad that Bobby wasn’t going to be there.” But Tori's mood is about to change...
- As they enter the lobby, a man at the front desk turns around to help them, and it’s Bobby! Tori is elated and incredibly surprised. “It totally blew her away,” says Kelly. “I knew about it, and I was still impressed.”
- After arriving at their cabins, Kelly and the kids enjoy an outdoor picnic lunch, complete with ice cream. “All of them brought their boyfriends, so I brought mine,” Katie tells Kelly, holding two containers of ice cream.
- The following day, Tori and Bobby volunteer to babysit Judson, energetic Jeb, and the grandkids, while everyone else heads to the ropes course. “If it had been Jeb first, it would have been a one-child family,” says Zach.
- “I’ve been excited about proposing to Tori for a long time,” says Bobby. While babysitting, he and Tori enjoy talking about their future (and the kids that they expect to have sooner rather than later).
- Kelly is quite nervous about the ropes course. “The problem was, I had just enough pride in me that even if I was scared to death, I knew I had to try,” says the mom of 19.
- During the time at the ropes course, Evan pulls Gil, Kelly, and Carlin aside for a courtship conversation. “I’m pretty nervous about talking to Mr. and Mrs. Bates about the courtship because I don’t know what they’re going to say,” admits Evan.
- After they sit down, Evan asks for permission to start making plans to enter an official courtship some time over the summer. Gil and Kelly start by discussing the primary purposes of courtship (keeping God at the center and maintaining purity). “If it doesn’t work out, I want to make sure that both of you can still be friends [and] can leave the relationship with no guilt,” says Gil. “Whoever you’re going to marry is probably out there somewhere. If it’s Carlin, that’s great, but it may not be.”
- “I do like Evan,” Gil tells viewers, “I think he’s a great guy, but I don’t know that Carlin’s grown up enough yet.”