Bristol Palin on Thursday posted a shot with her three children, including son Tripp, as he visited her in Texas.
The Wasilla, Alaska-born reality star, 35, was stylish in a sheer white dress with black polka dots, sandals and sunglasses as she posed with Tripp, 17, and daughters Sailor Grace, 10, and Atlee Bay, nine, on the spring day.
Tripp was visiting his mother and sisters about two years after he left the family home in Austin, Texas to reside with his father Levi Johnston in Alaska.
Palin, who has been candid about her ongoing battle with facial paralysis, had her brown locks down and parted in the social media post.
In the shot Palin shared with more than 538,000 followers, Tripp wore a black polo shirt with sunglasses, while Sailor and Atlee donned dresses as the family posed with a mountain visible in the background.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bristol for further details on the family reunion.
Bristol Palin, 35, posted a shot with her three children, son Tripp, 17, and daughters Sailor, 10, and Atlee, five, as he visited her home in Texas
Palin opened up on Instagram in 2024 about the heartache she endured as Tripp moved up north to live with his father.
‘As hard as it has been to come to this decision – it’s truly not about what I want,’ the daughter of former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said.
Palin pointed out that her son was growing older, there was value in him spending time with his father.
‘He’s almost 16-years-old and that relationship with his dad is a lot more important than my own selfish desires of having him with his mama forever!’ Palin said.
The Dancing With the Stars alum said she was still highly emotional about the situation, and hoping for as seamless a transition as possible.
‘I can’t talk about it yet without crying, but selfishly praying for a quick year and easy transition for us,’ she said.
Palin last year chat about her eldest child’s educational future as she fielded questions from followers on a number of different topics, one of which was centered on her son.
Asked if Tripp wants to go to college, Palin replied, ‘I’d never push college.’
Bristol, daughter of former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, pictured in NYC in 2018
Palin said that Tripp ‘already works actually,’ and ‘wants to work’ as soon as possible after high school, with an eye on the real estate business she is currently active in.
‘He’ll go into a trade and will have his hand in some sort of real estate/development I’m sure!’ Palin said.
Palin in March took to the social media platform to update fans on her continuing treatment as she deals with facial paralysis.
She said that a consultation ‘with a plastic surgeon in Austin’ went well as she explained a specific issue she’d been dealing with near her right eye.
‘When I smile or when I’m expressive, it closes,’ she said. ‘I don’t really care about my crooked mouth, but my eye… so embarrassing to me – I feel like I should wear an eyepatch or something.’
Palin added: ‘It looks crazy, and I just feel like I can’t even smile because it just closes.’
Bristol was thrust into the national limelight in 2008 amid her mother’s Sarah’s vice presidential campaign alongside then Republican presidential candidate, late Arizona Sen. John McCain.
She appeared at the Republican National Convention in September 2008 alongside Johnston, as her pregnancy with Tripp when she was 17 made headlines, amid her mother’s swift rise to political prominence as McCain’s running mate.
Bristol Palin last year said she’s not pushing Tripp toward attending a university once he finishes high school. Bristol and her son pictured in November of 2021
Bristol pictured in May of 2022 along with her son Tripp, daughters Sailor Grace and Atlee Bay, and ex-husband Dakota Meyer, 36
Beyond the campaign, her relationship with Johnston remained in the public eye amid a pair of engagements before they eventually split for good.
Bristol made headlines in 2009 when she signed on for a $262,500 position to serve as an abstinence ambassador for a teen pregnancy prevention organization called The Candie’s Foundation.
‘Abstinence is the only way you can effectively 100 percent prevent pregnancy,’ Bristol said in a 2009 Good Morning America appearance. ‘It’s the safest choice and it will prevent teen pregnancy and a lot of heartache.’
In her 2011 book Not Afraid of My Life, Bristol dubbed Levi a ‘gnat’ who had ‘stolen her virginity’ after she had been consuming alcohol.
Appearing on Good Morning America in June of 2011, Bristol clarified she was ‘not accusing Levi of date rape or rape at all.
‘I’m looking back with adult eyes and thinking, that was a foolish decision,’ she said. ‘I should never have been underage drinking, and I should never have gotten myself into a situation like that.’
The statements triggered legal activity in which Johnston requested for hearings to be publicized ‘as a check against anyone’s need to be overly vindictive, aggressive, or malicious.’
Johnston said, ‘Not that Bristol would be that way, nor would I. But her mother is powerful, politically ambitious, and has a reputation for being extremely vindictive.
Tripp seen posed with his dad Levi Johnston during a hunting excursion in 2021
Bristol and her then high school sweetheart Levi were thrust into the public eye after her mother Sarah Palin announced the 17-year-old was pregnant at the 2008 Republican National Convention
Bristol and Levi called off their engagement in March 2009, just three months after their son, Tripp, was born on December 27, 2008
He added, ‘So, I think a public case might go a long way in reducing Sarah Palin’s instinct to attack.’
Johnston in November of 2013 filed court docs to have joint custody of Tripp, saying it had been in the child’s best interests, after Bristol previously had been awarded full custody.
Bristol said that the court filing had been a move to impact child support payments, as he had been $66,000 behind on his slate at the time. She would again take Johnston to court saying that he had not demonstrated he was fit to be a parent.
Bristol said Johnston hadn’t had visits with a young Tripp, and squandered his earnings on vacations, luxury vehicles and hunting trips as opposed to his child support obligations.
Bristol in March of 2015 revealed she was engaged to Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor winner as a Marine. After calling off their engagement, they wed in 2016, prior to Meyer filing for divorce in 2018.
In addition to her work on Dancing With the Stars, Bristol also appeared on the Lifetime TV series Life’s a Tripp and MTV’s Teen Mom OG in 2018.
