I Love You Day 2022

It's that time of year again. Time for the Bates' annual I Love You Day celebration! The clan is gathered in East Tennessee this weekend for the festivities. Last night was the couples' dinner, and today is the main event. For the costume contest, this year's theme is Bible characters.

 

Erin and Chad Paine, I Love You Day 2018

Photo courtesy of chadanderin.com

Lawson's New Album

 

Lawson Bates 

If you are looking for something to listen to, you will be thrilled to hear that Lawson‘s new album, American Dream, is officially out! You can stream it on various websites, including iTunes/Apple Music and Spotify. 

And in other news, Lawson and Tiffany are less than three months away from their wedding date. They plan to live in Nashville after they wed. We recently posted the link to a Q and A video that they filmed. 

Photo courtesy lawsonbates.com

Jackson Visits Florida

The Websters have had a few visitors recently. Gil and Kelly came down for Maci's first birthday party, and then Jackson visited a short time later. 

Jackson Bates and Alyssa Webster

Photo courtesy of @websterforever

Bates #12 and #15 Turn 20 and 16

Between January 23rd and February 17th, a span of less than four weeks, the Bates family has a whopping 10 birthdays to celebrate, including two "double birthdays." The first double birthday was Trace and Jeb on February 1st, and the second is today. Jackson is turning 20, and Addallee is turning 16. Happy birthday to this brother-sister duo!

 

Jackson Bates and Addallee Bates

2016

 

Nathan Bates, Trace Bates, Addallee Bates, 

Ellie Bates, Judson Bates, Isaiah Bates, Jackson Bates

Summer 2021

Photos courtesy of thebatesfamily.com; @jacksonebates

Bobby Turns 27

Happy 27th birthday to Bobby Smith! Bobby and Tori have three little kiddos who are growing up quickly. Kade is three, Kolter turns two next month, and Charlotte is seven months. 

Kade Smith and Bobby Smith

Photo courtesy of @bobby_torilayne_smith

Q and A with Lawson and Tiffany

 

Lawson Bates and Tiffany Espensen

Lawson and Tiffany just released their first Q and A video! In it, they spend just under 10 minutes answering questions submitted by fans (link below). They discuss their careers, where they will live when they get married, how they met, and more.

Lawson Bates and Tiffany Espensen: Q & A

Photo courtesy of lawsonbates.com

Tiffany's 23rd

Lawson, who will turn 30 in July, is only a few months away from leaving his bachelor days behind. (His wedding is set for May 12th!) Lawson's beautiful bride-to-be, Tiffany, just celebrated her 23rd birthday. Happy birthday to the future Mrs. Bates! Nathan and Esther Bates tied the knot last fall, which was followed by Zach and Whitney Bates' 8th wedding anniversary in December, so Tiffany will be the third Bates daughter-in-law.

 

Lawson Bates and Tiffany Espensen

Photo courtesy of lawsonbates.com
 

Maci Turns 1

Today is Maci Webster's first birthday. Maci is the 15th Bates grandchild and the 4th of Alyssa and John Webster's four daughters. Happy birthday, Maci!

 

Allie Webster, Maci Webster, Lexi Webster, Zoey Webster

Photo courtesy of @websterforever

Brandon Keilen's 3rd Book

Brandon Keilen's trilogy is complete! He announced the release of the first book in a three-part series, The Quest of Quinton, in October 2019. The second book became available for purchase in December 2020, and now the third installment is out. Below is a list of the titles, with links to purchase each on Michael and Brandon's website. 

The Quest of Quinton: The Mystery of the Golden Scroll

The Quest of Quinton II: The Stone Gate's Challenger

The Quest of Quinton III: The Final Stand

Photo courtesy of keilencorner.com

Five Little Paines

 

Chad Paine and Erin Paine

Erin Paine recently welcomed her fifth child. We thought it would be fun to compare the birth weights of all her children. Erin has had all of them early, at around 35-36 weeks, and they were all under 6.5 lbs at birth. Brooklyn was the heaviest of the five, followed by Carson and then Holland. Evelry and Finley were tied for the lightest. Here they are in birth order:

Charles "Carson" Paine Stephen Paine IV: 6 lbs (May 14, 2015)

Gap: almost 15 months

Brooklyn Elise Paine: 6 lbs, 6 oz (August 6, 2016)

Gap: almost 20 months

Everly Hope Paine: 5 lbs, 4 oz (March 30, 2018)

Gap: almost 20 months

Holland Grace Paine: 5 lbs, 5 oz (November 26, 2019)

Gap: almost 26 months

Finley Marie Paine: 5 lbs, 4 oz (January 18, 2022) 

You can hear Erin and Chad tell Finley's birth story in their latest YouTube video.

Photo courtesy of chadanderin.com

Double Bday: Bates #8 and 19

Another year has begun, which means it's time to restart the Bates birthday list. The family has already checked off four in the month of January, and today is the first double. Trace is 25, and Jeb is 10. That is a big milestone for Gil and Kelly because it means that all of their 19 children are officially in the double digits. Happy birthday to Trace and Jeb!

 

Trace Bates with girlfriend Lydia Romeike; Papa Bill and Mama Jane

 

Brandon Keilen, Michael Keilen, Judson Bates, Jeb Bates, Callie Bates

 

Photos courtesy of @tracewbates; keilencorner.com