Zack Bates is courting!

[PennySycamore]

Her curls look natural to me, but then again I don't know much about hair.

Her curls look natural to me, too O Latin. I don't know how much I know about hair either, but being "blessed" by hair like a Botticelli angel, Sarah looks like she was similarly blessed.

[DamnPrecious]

I'm going to say perm, I could tell in person.

[zcccrv]

It looks very permish to me.

But in case it's natural- please stop flattening the top part! Half straight/half crunchy is the worst look in the world.

Edited to add photo evidence.

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[ophelia]

I am really wondering if this courtship is going to be a quickie like the Noor/Botkin courtship.. we'll see.

I can imagine that there are going to have a cowboy wedding with a lot of music and so it's going to be much nicer and more enjoyable than the Noor/Botkin thing.

Hopefully you guys are wrong about Jana and her feelings. She seems to be such a sweet girl who is sentenced to be the slave for her parents and a broken heart is one of the worst things on earth and then again living in a family like hers with no girlfriends around her to talk or the possibility to do something to forget about him I feel really bad for her...

[tabitha2]

I think she has shown all the personality of wet drapery myself-What young guy wants that, even a fundie one?

[denimjumper]

Is that the Reith grandmom rocking CAPRIS?

[demgirl]

I think she has shown all the personality of wet drapery myself-What young guy wants that, even a fundie one?

Uh... all of them? (The fundie guys).

[IReallyAmHopewell]

How about that--I was RIGHT!! hahah Congrats to them both!

[sparrow]

As far as I can tell, when you date you have lots of sex, get pregnant, have an abortion, do drugs, disobey your parents, drop out of school and vote for Obama, but if you court, then you go to heaven.

Hahahahahaha!

[tabitha2]

I think she has shown all the personality of wet drapery myself-What young guy wants that, even a fundie one?

Uh... all of them? (The fundie guys).

NO,they want girls like Jill or Michelle or Anna-sweetly nurturing,nearly always cheerful,hungry for many children.A peppy cheerleader for the cause of proper women hood, Jesus and modesty-Whether this persona is real or faked is irrelevant to them.A sullen reserved girl that does not constantly build them up or praise them lavishly and one that does not present them in a good like light to the masses (us) is not a turn on for them.But, Hell,a lot of regular guys are exactly the same.

[Stacie]

http://southernraisedbluegrass.com/about-the-band/sarah/

Hmmm...her description sounds like she's got a mind of her own, which is good. I don't know too many women who are Civil War buffs..(I'm fascinated with that whole period, possibly because I had family on both sides of the war.)

Storm chasing? I somehow don't see this one turning into a J'Chelle. good! You can be a good Christian with a mind.

[ElijahsMama807]

Congratulations to Zach and Sarah! :D

[IReallyAmHopewell]

We've heard Josh talk about how with dating, you're giving pieces of your heart away and by the time you find that right person, all you have is a little piece to give them; however, courtship has the same thing. If it doesn't work out,

Since it's normally the parents who decide if it's "working out" I'd say there's not a very high failure rate among the hard-core Gothard or VF familes. Zak was only allowed to "ask" the girl after her father/family [not sure if this is the family whose father died] said "Yes, my daughter WILL marry you." End of discussion for the most part.

I have often thought Joshie Boy was allowed to marry so early because he was in danger of straying. Not in any real thinking way like becoming an Episcopalian and a Democrat, but straying as in drooling over girls, maybe saying inappropriate stuff [like Daddy and the "softening" thing ick] and maybe being a little too active on his own under the covers.

With Joy Anna now "of age" I think it's likely at least one of the Fab Four will announce her "intentions" [i.e. Daddy's plan] in the not-too-distant future. Grandma, Joy and Johanna will pick up the slack.

[GeoBQn]

I tried to explain the "giving away pieces of your heart" thing to my fiance. He replied, "But if dating is giving pieces of your heart away, aren't you also getting a piece of the other person's heart? Then you have a net heart-loss of zero!"

[dastarddamsel]

I bet you when (there is no if), they get married, they come to Gettysburg for their honeymoon. Not horribly expensive, she cites an interest in the Civil War, and Zack comes from the house that has Nathan Bedford Forrest on the wall.

So if they do, I'll have camera in hand!

[bananacat]

I tried to explain the "giving away pieces of your heart" thing to my fiance. He replied, "But if dating is giving pieces of your heart away, aren't you also getting a piece of the other person's heart? Then you have a net heart-loss of zero!"

Hearts, like hymens, are like basically like chewing gum. Once it's used, nobody wants it anymore. So yeah, you can get a nasty chewed-up piece of someone else's heart, but it will never be as good as the fresh unused version. I'm not kidding; a group actually came to my high school and put on a skit where gum was used as a metaphor for virginity.

[silverspoons]

I think Zac will be Gil 2.0. Does anyone know what Zacs business is? I know he is a councilman (does that even pay anything, if it does it would be very little), a volunteer fireman and helps with tree triming. How will he be affording a small house, christain health sharing plan, and 4 kids in the next 5 years? I was hoping the older Bates kids who were older during Gil's nabsico years and thier suburban lifestyle would decide to go fundie lite.

[ophelia]

nabisco? urban lifestyle?????? WHAT?

[tabitha2]

They both went and graduated from college,Gil had a good paying Job as a driver for Nabisco years ago and they weren't that into kids-they originally planned to wait 5 years then have about 3 but...

After a few weeks, the more we discussed our options the more we hesitated about the choices. We thought about “counting the costsâ€â€”which seemed to be the wise choice—but one thing kept disturbing us. If God said He would give us some blessings and we didn’t know that meant “childrenâ€, would we say, “Let me wait a few years, and please, only give me a fewâ€? As we meditated on that, we began to wonder if God wanted to have control of this important decision in our life instead of us being the ones to decide when and how many children we should have. We had already given Him control of our vocations, our finances, our goals . . . but would He want us to trust Him in this area or would that be a lack of planning and preparation? The more we studied and prayed, the more God began to move on our hearts that children really are a blessing. And knowing that, we agreed, why should we tell God to limit our blessings? If those blessings came in the form of money, we’d all say, “Fill the potâ€! So we asked God to give as He saw fit and with each child He has given us an extra measure of grace . . . to cope, to love, and to enjoy!

[slickcat79]

nabisco? urban lifestyle?????? WHAT?

Gil used to be some sort of supervisor for Nabisco. He and Kelly both have college degrees from accredited schools. At some point god "laid it on Gil's heart" that he shouldn't work for other people because they might make him do something that was contrary to his faith. So after deciding that the sheer godliness of working for himself was more important than having a steady income and insurance for his growing family, he got into the tree trimming biz.

I've always had the impression that the Bateses are willing to allow their kids a little more freedom than the Duggars (though Erin's "green hair" comment kind of suggests otherwise). I guess we'll see as the courtship progresses.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Just a thought, but maybe Zack wants to join THEIR family. I'd rather tour around playing music than chop up trees.....

[emmiedahl]

After that, those two may demand their TLC trust funds (which have to be given to them by law) and make a run for it after Jinger turns 18.

Quite unfortunately, this is not the case. Children on reality shows are not considered actors and thus receive only what their parents decide to put away for them. For example, the Gosselin children will probably get nothing, which has been a subject of much controversy.

[moreorlessnu]

Are these trust fund laws federal or state? If state, do these laws vary from state to state?

[slickcat79]

Are these trust fund laws federal or state? If state, do these laws vary from state to state?

I would bet that they are state, and that they vary. Laws governing child labor (especially in the entertainment industry) do vary widely by state. CA and NY have the strictest laws because they have more children involved in entertainment than other states; I would imagine the laws governing their money are much the same.

ETA: Meant to add what emmiedahl said. Children in reality shows are generally not considered child actors anyway and are not subject to the same laws, even if they do exist and in many states they don't.

[emmiedahl]

I know that in California, reality show stars are generally considered actors and subject to the same protections. In Pennsylvania, they are not until they are seven, and even then it is not really clear. Jon & Kate/TLC have opted thus far not to consider their children actors or pay them. I know they have filmed in CA and NY, so I wonder if they are actually breaking laws when they travel?

In CA, 15% of the child's earnings must go into a trust fund, but that is so little that the Duggar girls would maybe have enough to buy a used car... and I bet Arkansas's laws are more similar to Pennsylvania's than California's.

There's a short discussion of it here http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32239425/ ... aws-drama/