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

[ginger90]

4 minutes ago, Madtown said:

Aren't we coming up on Jill's BIG announcement? I can't remember the date.

She said the announcement would be the end of the month, June. Must be very busy......no announcement as of now. On their blog, it says, “We do have exciting news that will be officially announced via our Facebook page on Monday- July 1.”

[ginger90]

Oh goodness.....Imagine being the one reservation among Jill’s group? 

Part of the most recent blog post:

What an honor it is to have been asked by Mrs. Judy Edmunds to take over the Annual Ladies Retreat held in Sugarcreek, Ohio at the Carlisle Inn each March. This is in the heart of beautiful Amish country and FILLED to the brim with beautiful gift shops and loads of things to do. Judy has been doing this retreat now for 19 years and due to fragile health conditions, felt that she needed to pass the torch on to someone else. 

Praise the Lord for this incredible opportunity! I have had a burden to encourage my fellow sisters in Christ since I was a teenager and this opportunity is SUCH an answer to prayer! I already have several facets of ministry (ministering to my sisters in Christ), and this opportunity expands that. 

In fact, some of you may remember that a year and a half ago I even planned my own Ladies’ Retreat at Stonewall Jackson Resort in West Virginia. However, rather than continuing to build that up from scratch, I will now channel all my energy into this retreat. 

***See pics below of the GORGEOUS resort this ladies retreat will be held at! We are expecting such a large crowd of ladies, that we booked the ENTIRE hotel (except for one room that was already reserved)! God is GOOD!

[sleepysuzy]

She said it will be on FB live at 3:00 today. 

[Temperance]

The Maxwells have a post about Father's Day. They spent it together. Also Anna Marie is apparently due mid-February, but the last three posts are about her pregnancy. She seems to be a six weeks along.  It will be a long pregnancy.

[sleepysuzy]

Jill R's big announcement was a courtship for Nurie.

[Absolom]

Nathan Keller - Jilly will be so proud to have finally gotten a Duggar connection.

[ginger90]

1 minute ago, Absolom said:

Nathan Keller - Jilly will be so proud to have finally gotten a Duggar connection.

Anna’s brother?

[Absolom]

Yep.

[Patti Jean]

I think it broke the Free Jinger website.

[beckie]

To me that dress makes Nurie look pregnant. Boy would Jill's head explode if she was.

Nathan Keller? Sounds like he'll fit in the Rodriguii clan just fine.

[Libby96]

28 minutes ago, Patti Jean said:

I think it broke the Free Jinger website.

I think it did.  I was on there reading through posts waiting for the announcement (I’m on summer break, don’t judge) and suddenly my page wouldn’t refresh and the server is not responding!

There was speculation that it would be a Nurie/Keller boy courtship, and I had pointed out that their (certain to be numerous) kids will be first cousins of Josh and Anna’s M kids.  I’m sure JillRod’s head is about to explode.

Lucky Nurie.  She will have the illustrious Josh Duggar as a brother-in-law!

[Westiepeach]

11 minutes ago, Libby96 said:

Lucky Nurie.  She will have the illustrious Josh Duggar as a brother-in-law!

As well as TFDW!

[Libby96]

1 minute ago, Westiepeach said:

As well as TFDW!

And John Shrader, aviation missionary extraordinarie!

[Normades]

2 minutes ago, Westiepeach said:

As well as TFDW!

Let's just hope he's in the wedding party.  It would be awesome if he planned the wedding.  Personally I think he did a better job planning his wedding than most of these fundies.  Plus I would love to see a TFDW/Jill cat fight over ugly dresses and chicken legs!!!!

[GeeGolly]

32 minutes ago, Normades said:

Let's just hope he's in the wedding party.  It would be awesome if he planned the wedding.  Personally I think he did a better job planning his wedding than most of these fundies.  Plus I would love to see a TFDW/Jill cat fight over ugly dresses and chicken legs!!!!

Maybe David W he will honor them with a singing song. And if they're really lucky Erin B can BANG out a tune on the piano.

I'm going to buy stock in crappy party mints and Kool-Aid first thing tomorrow.

[DkNNy79]

The 80s hair and makeup ages Nurie so much.

Well let's hope that when she get's married and is managing her own household that means she will get to eat more and put on some pounds.

Do we know anything about Nathan Keller?  He's not very attractive, but I don't think Jill cares.  Does he have a job?

[Normades]

5 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Maybe David W he will honor them with a singing song. And if they're really lucky Erin B can BANG out a tune on the piano.

Well, only if Grandma promises to join in on the saw!!!!

44 minutes ago, Libby96 said:

And John Shrader, aviation missionary extraordinarie!

Oh wow!!!! I had forgotten about John.  Tim will be flying the non-existent plane any day now.  I wonder if it's more difficult to fly a non-existent plane than one that actually exists. 

Seriously, Jill must be beside herself with happiness.  Not only did she score a Duggar adjacent husband for Nurie, but she put a stop to those heathens at Free Jinger for a while.  What a glorious day for her!!

[GeeGolly]

One of these two is Nathan. Not sure which one.

[Albanyguy]

I'm honestly surprised Pa Keller is allowing this. Why on earth does he want his family linked to that pack of grifters? Once he lets them into his family, he'll never get rid of them. Every time he turns around, that RV will be pulling into his driveway and they'll all pile out, looking for handouts. Pa has always struck me as a Fundie social climber, using his kids to move up the ladder. He married Anna off to the crown prince of a famous TV family and Priscilla to Bill Gothard's protegee/right hand man. Anna's marriage didn't work out quite the way he hoped, but he still milked it for all it was worth. Letting Nathan form an alliance with the J-Rods is going to be a big step down for him.

I don't mean to be unkind, but what's so special about Nurie that she'd be worth letting Nathan hook himself up to her ghastly parents and that army of half-starved kids? Surely they could have found him a nice, healthy Fundie girl without all that baggage.

[Temperance]

I've somehow seen a lot of David Waller lately and I can't think of someone who more deserves to be connected to the Rods via marriage. (He's pompous and smug and joyless to listen to. He was on a video with JB and Michelle and his wife Priscilla.)

John Shrader and his family (Esther Keller Shrader) are basically a missionary version of the Rods so this doesn't surprise me. 

I'm picturing Jill as Mrs. Bennet in the Colin Firth P & P "And this will throw the younger girls into the path of other young fundie men." 

FJ keeps crashing.

And finally I'm glad it's Nurie and, not the barely 18, Kaylee who's courting.

[Sew Sumi]

I should have known something was up when Jill wrote so effusively about the Kellers a few months ago. She REALLY sucked up to them. I imagine that's when the arrangements for this courtship were made. 

[Libby96]

13 minutes ago, Temperance said:

I've somehow seen a lot of David Waller lately and I can't think of someone who more deserves to be connected to the Rods via marriage. (He's pompous and smug and joyless to listen to. He was on a video with JB and Michelle and his wife Priscilla.)

John Shrader and his family (Esther Keller Shrader) are basically a missionary version of the Rods so this doesn't surprise me. 

I'm picturing Jill as Mrs. Bennet in the Colin Firth P & P "And this will throw the younger girls into the path of other young fundie men." 

FJ keeps crashing.

And finally I'm glad it's Nurie and, not the barely 18, Kaylee who's courting.

I love the Mrs. Bennett reference.  JillR is exactly who Mrs. Bennett would be if she had more kids, more make-up, more social media, and the benefit of being frighteningly real and not a fictional character.

[Sew Sumi]

Hopefully this works. The first post in this Tumblr account is an awkward as fuck message from Nathan and Nurie.

https://blessamuffins.tumblr.com/post/185984719389/i-was-about-to-grab-the-video-from-an-fb-group-im

Edited July 1, 2019 by Sew Sumi

[McManda]

I don't know much about the Kelley family outside of what I read here, but I'm kind of glad for Nurie. Not that she's essentially being sold off, but getting married is her only way of potentially having her own life instead of being at home with her crazy family. Not that I really think she'll use it, but at least it's a potential.

Given that the Keller's have a couple divorced kids, one that eschewed Gothardism, and one that had a baby outside of marriage ... maybe Nurie has a chance. (Again, she probably won't take it, but.)

There are more unfortunate looking men than Nathan Keller. And maybe this will spur Nurie to be her own person and ditch the heavy makeup and finally be able to eat a sandwich.

It could end up being a win/win. Jill gets to be in-laws with Anna DUGGAR's family, Nurie gets a glow up, and ... well, Pa Keller seems to get screwed but maybe he's just tired of playing matchmaker for his kids and gave up.

[Sew Sumi]

Nathan and Nurie won't flee the fold. Pa Keller made sure those two youngest boys were fully steeped in the cult tea after the "disasters" of some of his other children. 

[Fosca]

And hopefully they'll feed her and scrape off a few layers of makeup.

[ginger90]

That video was awkward. 

[GeeGolly]

7 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

That video was awkward. 

I've been saying Nuri wrong in my head all this time.

Nathan started the video just fine. Why did Nur-ri have to jump in with a jumbled, awkward mess of nothingness?

Run Nathan, run.

Edited July 1, 2019 by GeeGolly

[Jynnan tonnix]

12 minutes ago, Fosca said:

And hopefully they'll feed her and scrape off a few layers of makeup.

I'm suspecting that she will need a few pounds before she manages to start that army for Jesus. It looks as though she has actually lost more weight than ever in the past couple of months. I can't see her (or even Jill) thinking that Nurie needs that drastic pre-wedding diet which so many of the other fundie girls seem to go on the moment a courtship hits the horizon, but I've never seen her jaw and chin quite so sharp as it is right now. Hopefully it's not nerves or fear keeping her from eating - I'd hate to think she was being pushed into a courtship she doesn't want or doesn't feel ready for.

[Ohiopirate02]

That video is awkward,  but I see some sort of spark between them.  Nuri appears to like Nathan even if it feels like a school girl crush.  I get a better vibe from them than I do with Josiah and Lauren.  Time will tell if they are able to make a happy marriage out if this or if they are miserable. 

[GeeGolly]

16 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

That video is awkward,  but I see some sort of spark between them.  Nuri appears to like Nathan even if it feels like a school girl crush.  I get a better vibe from them than I do with Josiah and Lauren.  Time will tell if they are able to make a happy marriage out if this or if they are miserable. 

I didn't notice the spark. If felt to me that Nuri didn't even acknowledge Nathan. Like her mom was filming just her.

[doodlebug]

So, Nuri says she's been blessed by Nathan and his Godly desires... Hmmmm…….  There's a joke in there somewhere.

I don't know if I saw a spark from Nuri, more like a sense of relief that she was finally courting.   After all, she's been on the market for a couple years now, she's stale bread in fundieland.  She now can also live down the fact that purple gum courtship guy was never heard from again after their first and only meeting.

Edited July 1, 2019 by doodlebug

[PradaKitty]

What was that word salad coming out of Nuri?  It sounds like she was just stringing sentences together!

Also, didn’t Nuri have a very quick failed courtship a few years go?  Her courtship person gave her such thoughtful and lovely gifts- I believe one of them was a pack of gum.

Let’s all remember folks, they’re not engaged yet... 

[Totally]

Nurie sounded exactly like JillR 

If I was only hearing the video, I would have 100% guess Jill

Scary stuff 

[JoanArc]

Jill must've promised Pa Keller she'd gift him a new car a year for the rest of his life.

This whole gene pools is gonna look...algae covered in a couple generations.

[Sew Sumi]

In that video, Nurie is dressed like the Keller/Duggar girls c.2008.

[PikaScrewChu]

1 hour ago, Fosca said:

And hopefully they'll feed her and scrape off a few layers of makeup.

TFDW will fix that. 

[Patricia07]

Wonder what JB is thinking?

Edited July 1, 2019 by Patricia07
Needed rewording for clarification.

[galaxychaser]

I had a horrible thought. What if Jill starves her girls so they would stop menstruating. So she doesn’t have to spend $ on pads. God knows they probably aren’t allowed tampons.

[Normades]

Please let Davia be one of the flower girls!!!!  That little girl's expressions are gold --- GOLD I TELL YOU!!!!

[lascuba]

I'm dying to know what Anna thinks about this. She's always thought very highly of herself and her place in the world and I'm sure she has some non-sweet thoughts about the Rodriguez family. Oh, to be a fly on the wall during that wedding.

[BradandJanet]

7 hours ago, ginger90 said:

Oh goodness.....Imagine being the one reservation among Jill’s group? 

Part of the most recent blog post:

What an honor it is to have been asked by Mrs. Judy Edmunds to take over the Annual Ladies Retreat held in Sugarcreek, Ohio at the Carlisle Inn each March. This is in the heart of beautiful Amish country and FILLED to the brim with beautiful gift shops and loads of things to do. Judy has been doing this retreat now for 19 years and due to fragile health conditions, felt that she needed to pass the torch on to someone else. 

Praise the Lord for this incredible opportunity! I have had a burden to encourage my fellow sisters in Christ since I was a teenager and this opportunity is SUCH an answer to prayer! I already have several facets of ministry (ministering to my sisters in Christ), and this opportunity expands that. 

In fact, some of you may remember that a year and a half ago I even planned my own Ladies’ Retreat at Stonewall Jackson Resort in West Virginia. However, rather than continuing to build that up from scratch, I will now channel all my energy into this retreat. 

***See pics below of the GORGEOUS resort this ladies retreat will be held at! We are expecting such a large crowd of ladies, that we booked the ENTIRE hotel (except for one room that was already reserved)! God is GOOD!

This place had better take inventory after JRod leaves. She's going to play queen of the castle and take stock of her worldly possessions. No problem, the RV will somehow hold the china and paintings she comes back with. 

[BitterApple]

Wow, I am absolutely shocked Pa Keller would approve this. What does Nathan even do for work? Does he realize he's not just supporting Nuri, but her entire family of starving grifters? Nathan's probably so desperate to get laid he doesn't care who he marries. For Nuri's sake, I hope he doesn't bail like the other guy did.

Edited July 2, 2019 by BitterApple

[galaxychaser]

It’s not engaged news it’s courtship. He might bail like mr. bubble gum.

[EAG46]

If I was that hotel I would make sure that one reservation NOT with the retreat was treated like a god, if not make sure they got another place at a nearby resort. Probably the latter. 

[lianau]

6 minutes ago, galaxychaser said:

It’s not engaged news it’s courtship. He might bail like mr. bubble gum.

Mr Bubble Gum was never publicly named . The Keller kid is trapped .I bet some Duggars hope the wedding will be in November when they're all due and have a convenient reason not to be travelling .

[galaxychaser]

The one reservation will remember that vacation forever and not fondly. 

Can you imagine entire hotel full of Jill’s trying to convert you? And hand you 100 tracts. 

[sleepysuzy]

Just now, lianau said:

Mr Bubble Gum was never publicly named . The Keller kid is trapped .I bet some Duggars hope the wedding will be in November when they're all due and have a convenient reason not to be travelling .

Isn't it usually a few months courting and 3-4 months engaged? November is only 4 months away. 

[lianau]

Just now, sleepysuzy said:

Isn't it usually a few months courting and 3-4 months engaged? November is only 4 months away. 

Like Jill wouldn't push for the earliest engagement and wedding date possible .  

[Temperance]

1 minute ago, sleepysuzy said:

Isn't it usually a few months courting and 3-4 months engaged? November is only 4 months away. 

That's a Duggar courtship.  Courtship lengths vary from family to family.