Bringing Up Bates"A Heavenly Honeymoon & A Courtship Countdown"
- The wedding is over, and Tori and Bobby are off on their honeymoon. They fly into San Francisco and immediately grab a car and head to the Pacific Coast Highway. They stop at the Natural Bridges State Beach to eat sandwiches. “The first few days of our honeymoon, it really felt like we had snuck off somewhere and we were about to get caught at any second,” admits Bobby.
- Back home, Carlin and Josie discuss how odd it is to be the oldest sisters in the house.
- Tori and Bobby go on a private boat ride in Monterey Bay, and they sail past a large group of sea lions. After the excursion, the newlyweds have a FaceTime chat with Gil and Kelly, who are a bit down in the dumps now that Tori has left the house.
- To celebrate Tori’s birthday the following day, the Smiths check out beautiful Yosemite Valley. Bobby arranges for them to take a sleigh ride through a pine forest, complete with hot apple cider. “Going from courting and being engaged…always being careful that you’re not too close…to all of the sudden, in a split second you’re married and you can do whatever in the world you want, it’s just a really big difference that happens in a second,” says Tori. Bobby brings the birthday to a close with Tori’s favorite meal--steak--cooked together at the couple's mountain condo.
- Meanwhile, Kelton meets his dad, Michael Balka, for lunch to discuss the courtship proposal. The plan is to spend the day in Gatlinburg.
- When Kelton was 13, his mother passed away while giving birth to his youngest sister, Kerstin. (Kelton is the oldest of five.) “That was a really, really difficult time for our family, the hardest thing I’ve ever been through,” says Kelton. “My father has literally dedicated his life to pouring into me and his other four kids, and that’s part of the reason that me and him have such a close-knit relationship where we talk about everything. My father has built his whole life around carrying out my mother’s wishes in raising us.”
- To prepare for the big day, Kelton gets permission from the city to string lights on Emerets Cove Covered Bridge in Sevierville. His father and brother Carson help him.
- Next, it’s time for Kelton to surprise Josie. He shows up at the house with roses a few days before Josie was expecting everything to go down. “I was super nervous walking up,” says Kelton. “I have never done a courtship before.”
- Josie, Kelton, Gil, Kelly, and Michael head down to Gatlinburg. They take an aerial tram up a mountain to the Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area.
- They go ice skating, and Kelton jokingly gets down on one knee. “I told him we should skip courtship and propose,” says Josie. “If it had been in my pocket, it would have happened, but I didn’t have it,” explains Kelton. “But it’s okay because it’s coming,” replies Josie. “It’s coming soon.”
- After ice skating, they drive over to the covered bridge. Josie and Kelton get out and walk under the bridge, while the parents watch from the car.
- Kelton shares some heart-felt words with Josie: “You know that I have had very strong feelings about you for a long time, and today one of the things that I love most about you is that you absolutely are my best friend. I love your sweet spirit and your tenderness for other people. I love your diligence and even your determination to succeed, that those who don’t know you well might not even see. I really love your green eyes though, and I love this little beauty mark that you try to tell me that you hate because it’s beautiful. But above all, I love your heart. I want to make a commitment to you tonight to pursue your heart, and I brought you a gift tonight to help remind you of my commitment to pursue your heart. I love you, Josie Bates. Can I have your heart?”
- Kelton pulls out a diamond heart necklace, and the two of them enjoy a romantic hug.
- The parents are elated. “Twenty-five years ago, two days ago, my wife and I got married, and then we came to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon,” says Kelton’s dad. “It was just amazing that it all just kind of lined up like that, and it made it seem somewhat surreal.”
- “My father and mother were truly, deeply in love,” says Kelton. “My father has told me my whole life that his prayer and his dream for me would be for me to find someone that meant as much to me as my mother meant to him, and I don’t know how anyone could mean more to me than Josie does.”