Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)

[Absolom]

55 minutes ago, graefin said:

it's a fair bet, based on comments Whit has made, that they are also practicing some form of family planning.

I hope so.  What has she said?  I'd love to see them stop at 2.

[Sew Sumi]

16 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I hope so.  What has she said?  I'd love to see them stop at 2.

They haven't said anything publicly. I don't see that they can given that they need to present a united front for teevee purposes. 

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, BradandJanet said:

Barf. This sounds so self-indulgent to me. 

I'd go as far as calling it attention-whoring. 

[graefin]

1 hour ago, Absolom said:

I hope so.  What has she said?  I'd love to see them stop at 2.

I saw a clip where she said, with Zach present, that with the two she already had and a dog, she couldn't imagine having more. By their standards, such a statement is downright provocative, but I realize Whitney didn't grow up in this cult.

1 hour ago, Sew Sumi said:

They haven't said anything publicly. I don't see that they can given that they need to present a united front for teevee purposes. 

A united front with whom? Does giving an interview on TV stating you have your hands full with your two kids and the family dog and would find having more kids overwhelming count as public?

[OpieTaylor]

Sadly, near Spokane today, a Moody Aviation flight instructor and 2 students died in a plane crash

[queenanne]

22 minutes ago, OpieTaylor said:

Sadly, near Spokane today, a Moody Aviation flight instructor and 2 students died in a plane crash

O dear, that's terrible.  Terrible because people have lost their lives; and also because you know now, there's no way JillRod is letting Timmy stay enrolled in that program.

[Sew Sumi]

42 minutes ago, graefin said:

A united front with whom? Does giving an interview on TV stating you have your hands full with your two kids and the family dog and would find having more kids overwhelming count as public?

A united front with Gil and Kelly's beliefs that are being fulfilled by the rest of the married kids, save Brandon and Michael. 

1 minute ago, queenanne said:

O dear, that's terrible.  Terrible because people have lost their lives; and also because you know now, there's no way JillRod is letting Timmy stay enrolled in that program.

Yup, Jill can't get the enrollment fee back, but I bet Tim pulls out this weekend. Trip canceled! 

[Lunera]

Whitney's adoptive dad gave her away at her wedding. I think they don't get along with her biological parents. I think she just wanted a do over wedding and Up offered to pay for it. 

[awaken]

Oh, terrible news. So sorry to read this. Devastating for the school and families I’m sure. I truly hope they get the counseling and support they need. It’ll be interesting what Jill says with them about to take Tim. 

[Sew Sumi]

5 minutes ago, Lunera said:

Whitney's adoptive dad gave her away at her wedding. I think they don't get along with her biological parents. I think she just wanted a do over wedding and Up offered to pay for it. 

I'm pretty sure he also married them. 

[queenanne]

5 minutes ago, Sew Sumi said:

I'm pretty sure he also married them. 

That's an uncommonly adorable and piquant-looking clump of littles IMO, even better-looking than the grownups, who are all passably attractive in their own rights.  Are all the wee ones recognizable Bateses?

[Sew Sumi]

I think that was Whitney's "adoptive" family.

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, OpieTaylor said:

Please be in prayer for Moody Aviation and all involved.

 

From the link, not @OpieTaylor. Yeah, let's pray for the program first and the people who died second. 

[andromeda331]

It was. Whitney's adoptive parents were John and Lydia Owens who had eleven children many who were in her wedding. Then suddenly by Bradley's birth or his baby shower the Owens were gone and her bio parents were back in her life. No idea what happened or why she suddenly dropped the Owens.

[Heathen]

1 hour ago, andromeda331 said:

It was. Whitney's adoptive parents were John and Lydia Owens who had eleven children many who were in her wedding. Then suddenly by Bradley's birth or his baby shower the Owens were gone and her bio parents were back in her life. No idea what happened or why she suddenly dropped the Owens.

That's grotesque. Are the "sins of the father" erased if the adopted-out child returns to her birth family and forgives them? 

[floridamom]

Notice the 'modesty panel' and the bolero on Whit's original wedding gown...clearly Kelly-inspired.

From what I heard, it was Kelly who 'encouraged' (insisted) that Whit take up a relationship with her biological parents again. They abused Whit as a kid. She was removed from their 'care', put in foster care and was lucky enough to be adopted by loving parents, who were in the original wedding. I don't think Kelly should have interfered in Whitney's personal past family history. Not by business, but it wasn't Kelly's business either. I'm sure she guilted and Gothared Whitney in to speaking to her bio parents again. 

I truly hope that Zach sees the oddity of his parents' lifestyle and realizes that it doesn't take this extreme living to be a good person, love God and have God love him. Kelly and Gil need a good swift kick in their collective butt for restricting their children as they have done...They didn't have these barriers in their young lives and got to choose. Their children didn't.

[GeeGolly]

7 hours ago, floridamom said:

Notice the 'modesty panel' and the bolero on Whit's original wedding gown...clearly Kelly-inspired.

From what I heard, it was Kelly who 'encouraged' (insisted) that Whit take up a relationship with her biological parents again. They abused Whit as a kid. She was removed from their 'care', put in foster care and was lucky enough to be adopted by loving parents, who were in the original wedding. I don't think Kelly should have interfered in Whitney's personal past family history. Not by business, but it wasn't Kelly's business either. I'm sure she guilted and Gothared Whitney in to speaking to her bio parents again. 

I truly hope that Zach sees the oddity of his parents' lifestyle and realizes that it doesn't take this extreme living to be a good person, love God and have God love him. Kelly and Gil need a good swift kick in their collective butt for restricting their children as they have done...They didn't have these barriers in their young lives and got to choose. Their children didn't.

I would love to know the backstory of what happened in Whitney's childhood with both families. Sometimes it makes great sense to reunite with bio parents in adulthood even if they were abusive, neglectful, etc and sometimes it's the absolute wrong thing to do. It's really curious to me why, as an adult, Whitney can't maintain a relationship with all of her parents. I have a bunch of reasons why in my head, based purely on speculation, but as I said I'm very curious.

Edited July 14, 2018 by GeeGolly

[Nysha]

4 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

Sometimes it makes great sense to reunite with bio parents in adulthood even if they were abusive, neglectful, etc and sometimes it's the absolute wrong thing to do.

My adult adopted children all sought after their birth parents as adults. Unfortunately, the same issues that caused them to be removed from their birth homes in the first place, addiction and mental illness, has kept them from establishing a relationship with any of them. (I adopted 2 family groups through foster care.)

[Ijustwantsomechips]

5 hours ago, floridamom said:

Notice the 'modesty panel' and the bolero on Whit's original wedding gown...clearly Kelly-inspired.

From what I heard, it was Kelly who 'encouraged' (insisted) that Whit take up a relationship with her biological parents again. They abused Whit as a kid. She was removed from their 'care', put in foster care and was lucky enough to be adopted by loving parents, who were in the original wedding. I don't think Kelly should have interfered in Whitney's personal past family history. Not by business, but it wasn't Kelly's business either. I'm sure she guilted and Gothared Whitney in to speaking to her bio parents again. 

I truly hope that Zach sees the oddity of his parents' lifestyle and realizes that it doesn't take this extreme living to be a good person, love God and have God love him. Kelly and Gil need a good swift kick in their collective butt for restricting their children as they have done...They didn't have these barriers in their young lives and got to choose. Their children didn't.

I actually don’t mind the bolero.  It’s appropriate for a church wedding as some sanctuaries require covered shoulders etc.  It’s better than that flour sack Jill wore.

Edited July 14, 2018 by Ijustwantsomechips

[kokapetl]

Whitney looks like she’s an iceskater or something. 

[beagletime]

I love the picture from Zack and Whitney's vow renewal.  Although they look nice in the original wedding picture, they both look a little unsure and overwhelmed.  At the renewal they look happy and mature.  They have really grown into their relationship.   Her first wedding dress is very pretty.  The bolero is very nice for a church wedding.  As liberal as I am, I don't need to see every inch of cleavage and armpits and everything else.   Working with the public I see enough barely clothed people  all summer.

Hopefully Whitney can be on good terms with her adoptive and birth parents.  Those relationships can be complicated and can take years to work out.  I don't know the complete backstory on her birth parents.  It's just nice to see Zack and Whitney looking so happy.

Edited July 14, 2018 by beagletime
forgt to add something.

[Lukeysboat]

19 hours ago, Mimiray802 said:

 

I lady at my job used to selling plexus as a a cure for diabetes around the office. I

 

There is no cure. Wouldn’t it be lovely if I could just drink Plexus and my pancreas would function properly?! Cheaper than insulin, too!

[RedheadZombie]

On ‎7‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 4:42 PM, kokapetl said:

So here’s what’s in plexus slim:

and here’s what’s in Plexus Accelerator +

Looks like a ton of vitamin B. Probably makes colourful urine.  

Do the users of this product understand that B vitamins are water soluble, therefore they're peed out every day - and thank God.  Fat soluble vitamins would quickly build to a toxic level in these percentages.  Morons.  And LOL at calcium, something most women could use as a supplement, being 2%.

[lascuba]

On 7/14/2018 at 12:53 PM, beagletime said:

 

Hopefully Whitney can be on good terms with her adoptive and birth parents.  Those relationships can be complicated and can take years to work out.  I don't know the complete backstory on her birth parents.  It's just nice to see Zack and Whitney looking so happy.

A few years ago, back when Whitney had recently reconnected with her birth parents,  someone on fj who followed Whitney's adoptive mother on social media flat out asked her about her relationship with Whitney, and she said that Whitney had cut off all contact with them in favor of her birth parents. 

I know it none of our business, and I know issues around abusive families and adoption are complicated in a way I can't understand because I haven't lived it, but damn, that whole situation still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My knee jerk reaction is to be incredulous that someone would want to have a relationship with thei abusive brith parents, but for all I know her adoptive parents weren't much to write home about (I have an innate mistrust of conservative Christians who adopt).  Still, Kelly's involvement makes it all suspect . 

[Scarlett45]

On 7/13/2018 at 5:37 PM, GeeGolly said:

I think she looks much better with darker hair. Brings out her eyes. 

[ms.o]

I’m sure Whitney always wondered what happened with her bio family. Even if they were the suckiest people in the world, they were her bio parents. Perhaps she told Kelly she was curious about them and Kelly merely said “hey, I will support you if you want to find them”. It’s also quite possible that her adoptive parents told her that they would disown her if she sought bio fam out.

In my 13 years of working in foster care system, I’ve had a handful of kids on my caseload who had been adopted out of care. Years later the adoptive parents decided “just kidding, nurture didn’t trump nature. You can have them back.” It’s not just the bio family who can harm the kids. 

Anyway, long story short - I’ll give Whitney the benefit of the doubt that maybe she always had good intentions.

[Temperance]

Sarah Maxwell has blog post on their family blog about why she doesn't own her home like her brothers (both older and younger; all of them). 

[GeeGolly]

44 minutes ago, Temperance said:

Sarah Maxwell has blog post on their family blog about why she doesn't own her home like her brothers (both older and younger; all of them). 

Let me guess. Because she's female? Because she'll remain with her dad until a male headship with a house marries her?

[Sew Sumi]

I doubt that Poor Sarah will ever marry.

[Heathen]

She'll be the one stuck caring for her wretched parents in their dotage. Making cleaning schedules and lecturing Terri about the evils of Pepsi. 

[RedheadZombie]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 4:31 PM, lascuba said:

A few years ago, back when Whitney had recently reconnected with her birth parents,  someone on fj who followed Whitney's adoptive mother on social media flat out asked her about her relationship with Whitney, and she said that Whitney had cut off all contact with them in favor of her birth parents. 

I know it none of our business, and I know issues around abusive families and adoption are complicated in a way I can't understand because I haven't lived it, but damn, that whole situation still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My knee jerk reaction is to be incredulous that someone would want to have a relationship with thei abusive brith parents, but for all I know her adoptive parents weren't much to write home about (I have an innate mistrust of conservative Christians who adopt).  Still, Kelly's involvement makes it all suspect . 

To be honest, this has really altered the way I see Kelly.  And I didn't think highly of her before.

[Heathen]

9 minutes ago, RedheadZombie said:

To be honest, this has really altered the way I see Kelly.  And I didn't think highly of her before.

Gil and Kelly Bates are just Jim Bob and Michelle in more aesthetic packaging. If anything, Kelly is more dangerous than Mullet because Kelly looks mainstream, and her bible thumping doesn't sound that different, at first listen, from any other southern woman. Would the average normal person take Michelle seriously, with her dog-whistle voice, Wicked Witch hair, and hideous clothes? 

[Natalie68]

On 7/14/2018 at 10:40 AM, Lukeysboat said:

There is no cure. Wouldn’t it be lovely if I could just drink Plexus and my pancreas would function properly?! Cheaper than insulin, too!

Yeah I was told by a brand new coworker (I think it was her 2nd day at work and my 1st day back from being sick) upon meeting her that my MS can be cured via diet less than a week after I was diagnosed.  My first thought was hmmm, not gonna take bad advice from a 24 year old with no medical training and second thought was keep up this know it all attitude I will not be held accountable when I throat punch you.

[Fostersmom]

5 hours ago, Natalie68 said:

Yeah I was told by a brand new coworker (I think it was her 2nd day at work and my 1st day back from being sick) upon meeting her that my MS can be cured via diet less than a week after I was diagnosed.  My first thought was hmmm, not gonna take bad advice from a 24 year old with no medical training and second thought was keep up this know it all attitude I will not be held accountable when I throat punch you.

Yeah, I've been told my MS could be cured by diet, yoga, and essential oils. By that reasoning, all 3 could result in me living forever. 

[OpieTaylor]

20 hours ago, Heathen said:

Would the average normal person take Michelle seriously, with her dog-whistle voice, Wicked Witch hair, and hideous clothes? 

omg, dying!

[DragonFaerie]

I think Whitney looks so much happier and better in the vow renewal picture.  I like her with dark hair better than the blonde.  I have no idea what happened between her birth parents and her and her adoptive parents and her.  Between family and friends I have know several adoptions that had issues so I just hope that she is happy and has a supportive family.

I'm so sorry to hear about the Moody deaths, but I hope Timothy still gets to go and Jill R does not take this as a sign he should stay home.  

I would actually adore it if someone would tell me to try yoga and diet for my health issues instead of prayer.  Gag.  That being said I have had quite good luck/success with a diet change - doing so my doctor and I discovered I was gluten sensitive and that I have a sensitivity to white potatoes and corn as well.  But then I have such weird and deadly reactions to medical drugs my doctor and I have to tread very, very carefully.  I had to be revived twice from a drug reaction before I was 10 so yea, I'm cautious, but drugs are also awesome!

[Kbo]

More details on that awful crash involving Moody:

https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/spokane-county/moody-aviation-confirms-names-of-victims-in-deer-park-plane-crash/293-575009941

Two pregnant wives ?. I hope against hope they had life insurance, but I doubt it. Most life insurance companies don’t want to cover pilots.  No snark today, it’s just sad. 

[awaken]

Oh no. So terrible for these families, and for those at the school.  

[Temperance]

People are talking about baby names on the Jinger thread. The Bontragers had two babies born last weekend. They had three sons marry on the same weekend and two of their sons married two sisters. Each sister had a baby. One is a girl named Jubilee and the other is a boy named Wallace. Joshua Bontrager has a blog post explaining how they chose their boy's name. 

[Sew Sumi]

Joshua Boatranger is insufferable.

[Heathen]

2 hours ago, Sew Sumi said:

Joshua Boatranger is insufferable.

And a toad.

"My firstborn son." He must think his magical penis will automatically grant him more sons. What a jerk. He's the kind who values sons over daughters and doesn't care who knows it. 

[Temperance]

The Maxwells have a new solution for finding out information. You can use Google to "Google it".  More info is on their blog. 

Edited July 20, 2018 by Temperance

[Sew Sumi]

That's revolutionary! This discovery will change lives!!!!!11

[Broken Ox]

4 hours ago, Temperance said:

The Maxwells have a new solution for finding out information. You can use Google to "Google it".  More info is on their blog. 

Do you have a link? I'm not sure how I could find it otherwise....

[awaken]

4 hours ago, Temperance said:

The Maxwells have a new solution for finding out information. You can use Google to "Google it".  More info is on their blog. 

That’s their equivalent to Jill posting toast recipes!  

[CatS]

Since he's named after William Wallace and William Bradford, why did they not just name him William? ?

[Nysha]

Without the pretentious Wallace Bradford, how you know how awesome they are for naming their son after such great historical figures. Kind of the same reason Jessa & Ben named their son Spurgeon instead of Charles.

[Sew Sumi]

I'd predicted Spurgeon as a middle name with a more normal first name. But nooo....they went whole hog on us. At least they saved the pretentious religious leader's name for Henry's (and hopefully all subsequent children) middle name. 

[Sew Sumi]

Looks like a 10/5 wedding date for Josie and Kelton. Unlike the Duggars, the Bateses don't give fake dates on their registries. 

https://registry.theknot.com/josie-bates-kelton-balka-october-2018/27296399?_ref_val_=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theknot.com%2Fregistry%2Fcouplesearch%3Flt%3DSearchResults%26a%3D994%26st%3DSearchWidget%26ss%3DTNK_Homepage%26sp%3DFindRegistryAndWWS%23firstName%3DJosie%26lastName%3DBates%26eventMonth%3D0%26eventYear%3D0%26reset%3Dtrue%26track%3Dfalse%26offset%3D0

[BitterApple]

I'm curious to see what Josie will do for her ceremony. She's not a "look at me" type like Carlin, who's all about the spectacle, but I imagine she'll put more effort into her wedding than Tori did.