a week before gabriel officially became a one year old, we hosted a little birthday party for him in our garden square! we combined the celebration with the annual easter egg hunt that moses likes to invite his little pals to. it was a chilly but super fun morning. the preschoolers had a blast hunting for eggs and the adults and babies had a good time chatting and laughing. i honestly have never seen gabriel as jubilant as he was at his birthday party. somehow he knew it was a happy celebration for him! he kept his birthday crown on the whole time (miracle!) and was constantly squealing and giggling. we are sooooo glad this little boy joined our family last april!

ian got really creative in hiding places for easter eggs around the garden. many required adult help to get 😉 i didn’t get many pictures but it was so cute to see everyone so excited about their findings.

we are so grateful for all these great friends! love these peeps.

after the hunt, we did a lot of playing at the playground and a lot of bubbles, one of gabriel’s all-time favourite things.
 
 
i made some sugar-free cupcakes along with some from-a-box chocolate cupcakes. i just couldn’t get myself to give gabe real cake before his actual birthday (which was eight days after the party). i thought the sugar-free cupcakes were kind of gross (and they cooked really wonky), but several of the kids at the party really liked them, ha! gabriel actually loved his, and not just the whipped cream and sprinkles on top! we also had lots of fruit, one of gabey baby’s favourite foods.
 
 

even though we told our friends they should feel zero need to bring gifts, a few friends brought some little packages for our gabriel boy. he had fun unwrapping them at home after his party. it started hailing the minute we walked in the door after saying goodbye to everyone. so glad the weather held out!
 

it was such a wonderful morning celebrating friendship and our sweet gabey baby.