Sister Wives 7: One Down and Three to Go

[Cheetah]

I've seen the photo of Kody and Robyn sitting together at Logan's wedding (on reddit... will see if I can find and link).  So yeah, they were there, but Kody wasn't sitting with Janelle, the mother of the groom, leading to more speculation that she's left him and just waiting to announce until after the show gets a little further through Christine's arc of leaving. 

Here's one reddit thread with a pic of Kody at the wedding.  Not a great picture but the ramen hair is pretty unmistakable.  

 

[LacyMay]

So I'm interested were Kody and Robyn exiled because Logan+Michelle didn't have them seated up front? Or did Kody choose to sit with Robyn instead of with Michelle? 

I can't expect Logan to be super close with Robyn, he was around 15/16 when Kody and Robyn married and I think he may have already been out of the house when they moved to the cul de sac so I don't know how much they really would have interacted. All that to say I wouldn't hold it against him if he didn't have her front and center at his wedding. That said if he also exiled Kody to second tier I would be interested to hear more about that dynamic. 

 

I really want a sister wives tell all book. If Christine wrote that I would buy it in a heartbeat (that said I don't think she would do anything until after Truly is older, contrary to Kody's projections she seems really commited to keeping the peace and making sure that Truly has a good relationship with her dad.) 

 

Which leads me to my next comment, WTAF kind of lies was Kody spewing about custody? "If we don't have a legal custody agreement the STATE OWNS HER" Does he think Truly is like a plot of land to be bought and sold? (Don't answer that...)

[Alice in Fundieland]

I love the way Christine doesn’t even challenge him. She just nods and lets him rant and then seems to go on to make an informed decision influenced by facts, not the nonsense he spews. At least I hope that’s what she did and continues to do.  

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 hour ago, Alice in Fundieland said:

I love the way Christine doesn’t even challenge him. She just nods and lets him rant and then seems to go on to make an informed decision influenced by facts, not the nonsense he spews. At least I hope that’s what she did and continues to do.  

Janelle has always struck me as someone who is pretty comfortable in who she is. I could see some insecurities with Meri, Christine, and Robyn right from the start 12 years ago. But Janelle always seemed to know who she is and what she wanted in life. So I do think that if Kody goes too far, she will leave too. I think she’s much less bothered by his buffoonery than the others. She seems like she can brush some things off. Not everything though. So if he gets worse, I think she will leave. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by JermajestyDuggar

[Cults-r-us]

2 hours ago, Alice in Fundieland said:

I love the way Christine doesn’t even challenge him. She just nods and lets him rant and then seems to go on to make an informed decision influenced by facts, not the nonsense he spews. At least I hope that’s what she did and continues to do.  

Don't you suppose they are all adept at appearing to listen to Kody bloviate, nodding in pretend acknowledgement, then making informed decisions?

[apandaaries]

Kootie’s in the background of one of the pix. They had a “beer fairy” at the wedding, and Christine’s ex appears to be chatting with that person. I suspect tlc is trying to enhance the mystery of whether or not Janelle leaves.  And now we have a wedding where the true parents (Christine and Janelle) are proudly pictured with their kids, sperm donor not included. 
Too bad Janelle’s mom never left Kody’s dad. She could use a good role model like that. Perhaps Christine’s mom could help.

Spoiler

ETA: Robyn and alcohol. Has anyone else seen the internet rumors that her divorce include verbiage about neither parent consuming alcohol around the kids? Is there any truth to that?

And if I’ve overstepped in my inquiries, apologies to all and the mods, and feel free to snip this spoiler out.  But my interest is piqued by this potential factoid. Curious about its veracity.

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by apandaaries
Thoughts

[Alice in Fundieland]

1 hour ago, Cults-r-us said:

Don't you suppose they are all adept at appearing to listen to Kody bloviate, nodding in pretend acknowledgement, then making informed decisions?

Very good point. It feels like we’re seeing a lot more of it from Christine since she’s the focus of this season and maybe it stands out to me because it’s not something she appeared to do when the show first started. Back then they seemed to portray her as much more subservient.

As they started to discuss their problems on camera Christine seemed to push back on Kody a bit more, but when she was finally done trying to save their marriage it’s like a switch flipped and she knew it was pointless. At least that’s the way they seem to be presenting the storyline on the show. 

[apandaaries]

Reasons to have Kody officiate your wedding: 

a) the wedding is a big show that the family insisted on and neither of the upcoming spouses wants to be the center of attention. This only works if neither is religious, nor interested in any sense of sanctity in the vows. But if being the focus of one’s own wedding is a bit much, Kody will manically take the attention off everyone else!

b) you and your affianced share a dark, twisted, and awkward sense of humor. You’d like wedding entertainment, but you’d also like it to be free. You know Kody’s dancing will be both shocking and entertaining, although in a bleak way. But you and your loved one, with your shared sick humor, will appreciate and laugh at this, especially remembering the shock of every other guest. 

c) you’re planning on attempting an annulment after the ceremony. You will tell the judge you didn’t think a ceremony officiated by a clown was legally binding. Not a great strategy, but it would justify asking him to be involved. 
 

d) you’d like someone to import germs from another state. Kody can’t be bothered to travel for a surgery for his kid, but he does have time to potentially transmit diseases if a wedding is involved!
 

Did I miss anything?

Edited October 24, 2022 by apandaaries
Revision

[Cults-r-us]

57 minutes ago, Alice in Fundieland said:

Very good point. It feels like we’re seeing a lot more of it from Christine since she’s the focus of this season and maybe it stands out to me because it’s not something she appeared to do when the show first started. Back then they seemed to portray her as much more subservient.

As they started to discuss their problems on camera Christine seemed to push back on Kody a bit more, but when she was finally done trying to save their marriage it’s like a switch flipped and she knew it was pointless. At least that’s the way they seem to be presenting the storyline on the show. 

A lot of these fundie patriarchs speak bloviate-ese, so pretending to listen is a generational trait of fundie wives.

[Cults-r-us]

39 minutes ago, apandaaries said:

Reasons to have Kody officiate your wedding: 

a) the wedding is a big show that the family insisted on and neither of the upcoming spouses wants to be the center of attention. This only works if neither is religious, nor interested in any sense of sanctity in the vows. But if being the focus of one’s own wedding is a bit much, Kody will manically take the attention off everyone else!

b) you and your affianced share a dark, twisted, and awkward sense of humor. You’d like wedding entertainment, but you’d also like it to be free. You know Kody’s dancing will be both shocking and entertaining, although in a bleak way. 

What was Kody's dance? Cotton Eyed Joe marries the Leprechaun Shuffle? A dance that cries, "notice me"? 

[clueliss]

Watching Sunday’s episode.  Just gonna point out the groom had a whole “very wide stance” going on.  

[Funwithfundies]

1 hour ago, apandaaries said:

Did I miss anything?

I get why the guy wanted Cody to officiate (I guess...?) but why on earth did the bride agree? I know there's editing at play here but it just seemed like the entire wedding was The Cody Show.  I was a very mellow, go-with-the-flow bride but man, I would have drawn a line in the sand so fast in that situation.

[sleepygirl1]

She looked uncomfortable as Kody was making jokes at the beginning.

[gustava]

Kodouche officiated a wedding?  Whose?

[SunnySide]

17 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Janelle has always struck me as someone who is pretty comfortable in who she is. I could see some insecurities with Meri, Christine, and Robyn right from the start 12 years ago. But Janelle always seemed to know who she is and what she wanted in life. So I do think that if Kody goes too far, she will leave too. I think she’s much less bothered by his buffoonery than the others. She seems like she can brush some things off. Not everything though. So if he gets worse, I think she will leave. 

I get this vibe from her too. Also, the vibe that she’s as independent as a plural wife can be. At one point wasn’t it just Janelle and Cody working outside the home? I remember in very early episodes Christine watched all the young kids and Janelle was fine with it. I could see her being okay in plural marriage, and being okay without it. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, SunnySide said:

I get this vibe from her too. Also, the vibe that she’s as independent as a plural wife can be. At one point wasn’t it just Janelle and Cody working outside the home? I remember in very early episodes Christine watched all the young kids and Janelle was fine with it. I could see her being okay in plural marriage, and being okay without it. 

I can’t help but see a lot of myself in Janelle. I can easily be alone. I have a husband and he respects my independence. Thankfully. But I would never marry again if we divorced. I’m positive I could never give another man lots of attention, affection, and time. My husband doesn’t ask for a lot. Which I think is rare. I think most men would want more attention. And I shiver at the thought of some man constantly wanting more attention from me. I have a feeling Janelle is like that. I think she probably didn’t mind plural marriage because she didn’t need Kody in her bed every night. She didn’t need him vying for her attention everyday. My biggest issue would be his not being there for my kids. That would be a huge problem for me. And I could see that bothering Janelle too. But Kody was there for her oldest kids for most of their lives. It’s only been since Robyn came along that he gave less attention to her kids. 

[GracieLou Free Duggar]

3 hours ago, gustava said:

Kodouche officiated a wedding?  Whose?

His firearm business partners.
He might have locked down his social media by now, but before it was a bit...unfortunate. LOL

[Funwithfundies]

49 minutes ago, GracieLou Free Duggar said:

His firearm business partners.
He might have locked down his social media by now, but before it was a bit...unfortunate. LOL

I'm afraid to ask - right wing stuff?

[apandaaries]

1 hour ago, Funwithfundies said:

I'm afraid to ask - right wing stuff?

Probably.

Christine’s ex — the one with the really bad hair — referenced reading divorce info in the “manosphere.”  He mentioned this while telling Christine that if she left their spiritual marriage without a custody agreement, Truely would become a ward of the state.
This danger would be even greater in Utah, since Kody and his hair challenged their polygamy laws. Did you know that the entire state hates Kody and wants to take him down because he’s so powerful? Well, he knows, and Christine knows. And he can’t trust Christine. Nope. She’s probably plotting with the state of Utah to keep him from his money. I mean, kids. The kids he can’t be arsed to visit while they live in the same state. 
Watching Kody be pathetic has its enjoyable moments, but watching him punch down on Christine is infuriating. She’s the AUB princess, raised completely distrusting the government. He knows this, and he’s trying to twist that old fear to bring her back under his control. We all know that absolutely nothing has legally changed for Truely. On paper, she remains the child of a single mother, no change in status. 
That douchebag is trying to avoid child support and the courts and trying to manipulate Christine into doing what he thinks is best for him. He is completely comfortable blatantly lying to her on camera. 
He’s turned into this rage monster, and that’s just what we see on camera. That’s him being camera-ready. Wtf is he like behind closed doors?

Edited October 25, 2022 by apandaaries

[Cults-r-us]

On 10/20/2022 at 1:45 AM, LacyMay said:

I could 110% get on board with Janelle in the trailer. It was certainly big enough for the two of them and she genuinely seems to enjoy the tiny home on the land thing. 

The part that I just have to snark at is that she made this HUGE purchase for what...4 months? And it seems to have just poofed away with the last of Kody's humanity.

And on Instagram she said she gave it up because it wasn't practical for the Winter? Surely she knew that Winter would happen. 

And how was it not practical? My father lives in a much older and not nearly as nice/fancy of a trailer year round in North/Central Alberta. 

I think that Savannah may have ended up hating it and that was the reason for the move. 

 

On 10/20/2022 at 1:45 AM, LacyMay said:

I could 110% get on board with Janelle in the trailer. It was certainly big enough for the two of them and she genuinely seems to enjoy the tiny home on the land thing. 

The part that I just have to snark at is that she made this HUGE purchase for what...4 months? And it seems to have just poofed away with the last of Kody's humanity.

And on Instagram she said she gave it up because it wasn't practical for the Winter? Surely she knew that Winter would happen. 

And how was it not practical? My father lives in a much older and not nearly as nice/fancy of a trailer year round in North/Central Alberta. 

I think that Savannah may have ended up hating it and that was the reason for the move. 

Was the whole RV thing a TLC device for a storyline? Although the clip of Kody being hateful to Gavriel as they level the RV seems authentic 

And OMG, you guys! Have you seen the insipid clip of Robin sitting on a bench in the brambles of coyote pass to stalk Janell? She just goes out there to sit on her bench, enjoy the view and complain Janell is not home when she does this. She tells the camera she  is somehow suspicious. I am suspicious TLC is desperate for story-filler. Ià feel embarrassed for her, this seems so contrived. My questions are: how far does Robin drive to leisurely sit on her bench and who is watching her kids?

[TuringMachine]

From other photos on reddit, it looks like Robyn and Kody are not in the back, but are in the second row. So still with family, but not next to Janelle like you'd expect. 

 

On 10/24/2022 at 10:54 AM, LacyMay said:

Which leads me to my next comment, WTAF kind of lies was Kody spewing about custody? "If we don't have a legal custody agreement the STATE OWNS HER" Does he think Truly is like a plot of land to be bought and sold? (Don't answer that...)

Yeah that part is stuck in my head. As far as the state is concerned they've never been married and never had a legal custody agreement, so wouldn't that mean all his kids with non legal wives were wards of the state?

[Alice in Fundieland]

5 hours ago, Cults-r-us said:

 

Was the whole RV thing a TLC device for a storyline? Although the clip of Kody being hateful to Gavriel as they level the RV seems authentic 

And OMG, you guys! Have you seen the insipid clip of Robin sitting on a bench in the brambles of coyote pass to stalk Janell? She just goes out there to sit on her bench, enjoy the view and complain Janell is not home when she does this. She tells the camera she  is somehow suspicious. I am suspicious TLC is desperate for story-filler. Ià feel embarrassed for her, this seems so contrived. My questions are: how far does Robin drive to leisurely sit on her bench and who is watching her kids?

I’ve heard that Robyn’s house is close enough to Coyote Pass that you can see one from the other. I’m sure the nanny is watching the kids. 

[patsymae]

Which leads me to my next comment, WTAF kind of lies was Kody spewing about custody? "If we don't have a legal custody agreement the STATE OWNS HER" 

 

I'm guessing that in absence of a legal marriage custody would default to the unmarried mother and the father would have to sue for custody, claiming the natural mother is unfit, or he represents the best interests of the child, or whatnot. I imagine he would have a hard time proving that. I don't think he cares either other than just using the well-worn custody threat as a tactic to avoid paying child support.

5 hours ago, TuringMachine said:

From other photos on reddit, it looks like Robyn and Kody are not in the back, but are in the second row. So still with family, but not next to Janelle like you'd expect. 

 

Yeah that part is stuck in my head. As far as the state is concerned they've never been married and never had a legal custody agreement, so wouldn't that mean all his kids with non legal wives were wards of the state?

No, the children of unmarried mothers aren't wards of the state.

[Cults-r-us]

1 hour ago, patsymae said:

 

No, the children of unmarried mothers aren't wards of the state.

I had an unfortunate episode years ago with little Cults' father (who is a bloviating ass, like Kody). We had an informal custody agreement, where he watched his daughter while I worked. There arose a heated dispute about him not making her read her library book. This escalated, and he refused to let me take my child. The friendly officer said I couldn't take her without proof of custody. So, if this hadn't been like the ransom of Red Chief, I would have had to go to court to get her back. But why did he get to keep her when he had no proof of custody, either?

[TuringMachine]

4 hours ago, patsymae said:

No, the children of unmarried mothers aren't wards of the state.

I know, I was just pointing out how obviously untrue this should be to everyone in that family. Kody is very clearly just trying to use Truely to hold onto some control over Christine. Also he wants a legal custody agreement but doesn't want to go through the courts? How does that work exactly, Kody? 

Ironically I'm pretty sure his best option for preventing Christine from moving to Utah with Truely would have been to get a custody agreement through the courts before they left Arizona. But of course Kody doesn't actually give a shit.

For Christine's sake I kinda hope she does get a formal agreement in place on the off chance Truely does visit, so Kody can't do what happened @Cults-r-us