Bontrager/Bowers 8: Cringeworthy

[ophelia]

On 3/20/2021 at 9:14 PM, raayx01 said:

the singing is awful, at least get someone who can sing, to sing at your wedding

 

On 3/20/2021 at 9:16 PM, JermajestyDuggar said:

Marlin and Becky chose to lead very different lives than how they were raised. Yet they expect their children to live exactly how they do. I wonder if they ever notice that hypocrisy. 

Yet both, Marlin and Becky, seem to be close to their parents and to some of their siblings. When they posted about family reunions in the past you could see that some of their siblings wore worldly "normal" clothes and still spend time with their families and seemed to enjoy each others company. So although they left Amish-Mennonite lifestyle, they are still welcomed with love and acceptance yet it seems that they would never choose that behaviour when it comes to their children. It's really sad.

13 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

Allison and Joshua are the 2 siblings that I think have been clearly arranged. Chelsy and Denver clearly not.

While I agree with you, I never know were to put Mitch and Bryn. I don't think it was an arranged marriage, but at the same time they didn't appear to have the same chemistry Chelsy and Denver have with their spouses.

3 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

In the recent wedding, Marlin said he and Becky were Amish growing up and Denver was their only child that wanted to be Amish. 

That was actually a sweet anecdote and I like how Marlin spoke directly to Praise that Denver might buy a horse and buggy for them in the future.

[Melissa1977]

It's sad that we are surprised that a father likes his son. I wonder if Marlin showed the same affection in the other 3 son's weddings. I bet Marlin will implode in Taylor's wedding. He seems to be liked, too, probably because he's smart and succeded in the bible bee contest. If Marlin is as competitive and sexist as he seems to be, I can picture him playing favourites with the manliest/smartest boys and being very difficult with the less "manly" or less succesful sons. He definitely ignores his daughters, shame on him!

[JermajestyDuggar]

3 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

It's sad that we are surprised that a father likes his son. I wonder if Marlin showed the same affection in the other 3 son's weddings. I bet Marlin will implode in Taylor's wedding. He seems to be liked, too, probably because he's smart and succeded in the bible bee contest. If Marlin is as competitive and sexist as he seems to be, I can picture him playing favourites with the manliest/smartest boys and being very difficult with the less "manly" or less succesful sons. He definitely ignores his daughters, shame on him!

Unfortunately I can’t really remember the double wedding much. But I do remember both Carson and Josh spoke at the wedding. So maybe that meant that Marlin didn’t get as much time to blather on and on. 

[HereticHick]

I'm curious about how many growing families the Bontrager agriculture enterprises can eventually support. Mitchell is managing the family hotel, and Carson has a side hustle as a farm equipment mechanic.  Josh farms full time, it seems.

A blog post from last March stated that "Denver worked for Bontrager Family Applicators this fall. (The custom manure hauling business that Dad, Carson and Mitchell own together)"--but that is only a seasonal operation.

It may be that the hotel + agriculture + manure hauling + farm mechanic work can support the families of Carson, Mitchell, Josh and now Denver (+ mom and dad Bontrager and the unmarried kids).

But, is there enough income to eventually also support the families of Lincoln Taylor & Hudson? or will they need to find side hustles too?

Edited March 22, 2021 by HereticHick

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, HereticHick said:

I'm curious about how many growing families the Bontrager agriculture enterprises can eventually support. Mitchell is managing the family hotel, and Carson has a side hustle as a farm equipment mechanic.  Josh farms full time, it seems.

A blog post from last March stated that "Denver worked for Bontrager Family Applicators this fall. (The custom manure hauling business that Dad, Carson and Mitchell own together)"--but that is only a seasonal operation.

It may be that the hotel + agriculture + manure hauling + farm mechanic work can support the families of Carson, Mitchell, Josh and now Denver (+ mom and dad Bontrager and the unmarried kids).

But, is there enough income to eventually also support the families of Lincoln Taylor & Hudson? or will they need to find side hustles too?

I hope Lincoln Taylor can take his Bible bed winnings and start his own business. Without daddy’s help.

[usedbicycle]

12 hours ago, ophelia said:

While I agree with you, I never know were to put Mitch and Bryn. I don't think it was an arranged marriage, but at the same time they didn't appear to have the same chemistry Chelsy and Denver have with their spouses.

Mitch and Bryn were not arranged but weren't love at first sight either. They knew each other from church growing up. When Bryn came home from college and was still single, Mitch asked her out (at 25 and being the eldest, I'm sure he was feeling some pressure to find a wife). Bryn took some convincing. She admits to dating him "out of curiosity" without thinking it would last, and that their dating relationship was full of ups and downs. 

http://bontragersingers.blogspot.com/2017/10/mitchell-bryns-love-story.html

But I do hope they're happy and that Bryn doesn't feel like she settled. Their kids are very cute!

[HereticHick]

26 minutes ago, usedbicycle said:

She admits to dating him "out of curiosity" without thinking it would last, and that their dating relationship was full of ups and downs. 

http://bontragersingers.blogspot.com/2017/10/mitchell-bryns-love-story.html

Sounds like a totally normal dating relationship to me! : )

[mydoggoskeeper]

Allison is clearly slacking as a wife -  did you see her husbands trousers?  They are wayyyy too long  and look super wrinkled with all the breaks.

Oof, and the gum chewing.  All the gum chewing.   

[Lgirlrocks]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I hope Lincoln Taylor can take his Bible bed winnings and start his own business. Without daddy’s help.

Did his parents let him keep the money?

[JermajestyDuggar]

31 minutes ago, Lgirlrocks said:

Did his parents let him keep the money?

I bet the did since he’s a future headship. They are so pro marriage+children that they would likely let him keep it so he could marry young and start producing an army for god right away. 

[Jasmar]

8 hours ago, usedbicycle said:

Mitch and Bryn were not arranged but weren't love at first sight either. They knew each other from church growing up. When Bryn came home from college and was still single, Mitch asked her out (at 25 and being the eldest, I'm sure he was feeling some pressure to find a wife). Bryn took some convincing. She admits to dating him "out of curiosity" without thinking it would last, and that their dating relationship was full of ups and downs. 

http://bontragersingers.blogspot.com/2017/10/mitchell-bryns-love-story.html

But I do hope they're happy and that Bryn doesn't feel like she settled. Their kids are very cute!

A first declaration of love, followed in the same breath with a proposal? These people are so screwed up.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

If anyone wants, here's the double wedding. It's still up on youtube.

And here is Mitchell and Bryn's wedding.

[Jigsaw3]

There are pictures up on the Bontrager family instagram now; a full Bontrager family shot and various headshots of different family groupings.

Liz looks like an adult now! I hardly recognized her in the big group shot (she and one of her brothers are ignoring the camera - it's not a great shot.) I expect she'll be married off sooner rather than later, unfortunately.

No good picture of Allison, but @mydoggoskeeper you are SO right about Jeremiah's pants: they are far too long and it looks very sloppy. (Maybe Jeremiah could have thought ahead and fixed it himself? Too much to hope so? In any case I won't blame Allison.)

And no good picture of the married couple either. I am now tending to agree with @MomJeans that the Helferiches don't do social media or otherwise have much higher privacy standards than the Bontragers.

[ophelia]

6 hours ago, Jigsaw3 said:

And no good picture of the married couple either. I am now tending to agree with @MomJeans that the Helferiches don't do social media or otherwise have much higher privacy standards than the Bontragers.

Which makes it a little surprising that they married off two of their children with a Bontrager since this family is frequently in the public eye (at least in fundie circles).

[Smash!]

Here‘s a good image of Allison. Looking bored like the rest of the bridal party.

[JermajestyDuggar]

3 hours ago, Smash! said:

Here‘s a good image of Allison. Looking bored like the rest of the bridal party.

They all looked so bored except for Josh. I’m sure he loves listening to fundie men blather on and on because he loves to do just that. 

[Foudeb]

I have never seen people looking so bored! 

They'd be more engaged watching paint dry I swear. 

[Melissa1977]

5 hours ago, Smash! said:

Here‘s a good image of Allison. Looking bored like the rest of the bridal party.

I don't blame her, but for a person who idolizes marriage, I expected her to be more enthusiatic. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

2 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

I don't blame her, but for a person who idolizes marriage, I expected her to be more enthusiatic. 

Maybe she was having flashbacks to her clusterfuck of a wedding.

[fundiefan]

3 hours ago, Melissa1977 said:

I don't blame her, but for a person who idolizes marriage, I expected her to be more enthusiastic. 

She idolized marriage before she entered one. Now, it's real life and she knows the pedestal she put it on and the magic she believed it would bring to her life was all a crock of shit. She now knows it's two human beings trying to make a life together and there were no magic rules pre-marriage to make the marriage automatically perfect. 

I am not saying she is living a miserable life or unhappily married. But I'd bet just about anything that she is wrestling with fact vs fiction to some pretty epic degrees on the whole marriage thing. 

Also, who took the pictures on the Bontrager IG? They were consistent, I'll give them that. Cutting off all the heads. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by fundiefan

[therulesofjinx]

21 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

Also, who took the pictures on the Bontrager IG? They were consistent, I'll give them that. Cutting off all the heads. 

I was annoyed by that! It seems like they don't know that you can adjust/edit photos to fit the square shape before you hit "share" on Instagram....I hope the photos weren't actually taken that way. That would be a bummer!

[Melissa1977]

30 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

She idolized marriage before she entered one. Now, it's real life and she knows the pedestal she put it on and the magic she believed it would bring to her life was all a crock of shit. She now knows it's two human beings trying to make a life together and there were no magic rules pre-marriage to make the marriage automatically perfect. 

I am not saying she is living a miserable life or unhappily married. But I'd bet just about anything that she is wrestling with fact vs fiction to some pretty epic degrees on the whole marriage thing. 

Also, who took the pictures on the Bontrager IG? They were consistent, I'll give them that. Cutting off all the heads. 

Do you think Allison has envy of Praise and Denver? It was very nice to see them so in love, but it may be a bitter feeling for over-romantic Allison if she realises she and Jeremiah didn't look that way. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

17 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

Do you think Allison has envy of Praise and Denver? It was very nice to see them so in love, but it may be a bitter feeling for over-romantic Allison if she realises she and Jeremiah didn't look that way. 

If I was born into a family like the Bontragers, I would be the bitterest Betty that ever did bitter. It sucks to be female in that family.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Allison still looks really thin to me. I know it's a first baby, but all of the women I've known were bigger than that at least 6 months. If I didn't know she's pregnant, I wouldn't be able to tell. 

[CaptainFunderpants]

1 hour ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

Allison still looks really thin to me. I know it's a first baby, but all of the women I've known were bigger than that at least 6 months. If I didn't know she's pregnant, I wouldn't be able to tell. 

That's just because America is ridiculously overweight on the whole.

She looks perfectly pregnant to me ??‍♀️