Hi all! I hope you had a lovely Easter!

I am so excited to share today about Tripp’s first birthday- which was themed “Tripp’s First Rodeo”. I can’t believe he’s one. He is such a joy, and I’m just so darn grateful that I get to be his mom. I spent the day before his party (Friday 2/27) prepping! Gigi helped me out a lot and thankfully Tripp took an extra long nap that day which helped so.much. Once my sister, Kevin, my mom and Pete arrived in the evening they helped tie up loose ends too.

Etsy really came in the clutch for the decorations! I ordered a personalized coloring table cover and these boot crayon favors that were a hit!

For other party favors we had “Cowboy Crunch”– I got the stickers from Etsy too. Bags were just from Amazon.

My mom brought along this book for Tripp that I had to put out on display! The Yeehaw balloon streamer is from Etsy too.

Here’s how the balloon arc and high chair banner came together!

And his smash cake is ready!

Here’s the cake topper!

Side note- I’ve decided to stop showing the kids’ faces on here for a few different reasons. It’s hard not to because of course I’d love to share their sweet laughing faces and smiles as always, but I know it’s the right decision for us.

I put Tripp in this shirt, he wore his cowboy hat for a split second for the picture and then I got him some boots that he refused to wear all together lol. (Although now he loves them!). Quinn wanted to wear her Jesse costume from Halloween which worked out perfectly. My mom did sew up a hole in it the night before. I found my dress on Levi’s final sale – thankfully it worked! And here’s my hat, Quinn’s hat and DJ’s hat.

Moose rockin’ a bandana

Here is the cake (for everyone) from West Side Bakery. We decided to go with a vegan chocolate with a chocolate ganache to give it a “mud” look- it was a huge hit! We barely had any left. I stand by that vegan cakes are just better than regular. The flavor and richness cannot be beat!

For food, we ordered from Nosh Catering. We had Cowboy Chopped Salad, Prairie Fruit Picks, Buckaroo Pancake Pops (with maple syrup on the side to drizzle), little wrangle mac n cheese, western quiche bites (and a regular option), and perhaps the favorite- the chuck wagon chicken sliders! These had cured, smoked and hand pulled chicken, tillamook cheddar, candied apples and onion, maple aioli on a challah bun! We had a great experience with this company and would definitely use them again.

The kids sprawled through the house, some in basement and some in play room, having a great time!

Cowgirl converted to cat girl lol.

Additional decorative touches- when people walked in we had a 12 month photo display and we also had pin the mustache on Tripp which was a blast. We also had a fun western garland on the fireplace.

We had quite a few people there (around 35 I think), so I was nervous how the space would feel but it worked great! We had a long table in our living room and then one smaller on in the playroom. We also had a slideshow of Tripp’s first year playing on the TV.

For the smash cake, I learned my lesson with how not to do it with Quinn. Hers was quite overwhelming with thick fondant, and I put her in the seat before everyone started singing happy birthday. She was scared and in tears instantly. This time I held Tripp, and once we were done singing I let him taste the cake while holding him then when showing interest I slid him into the seat. It was quite adorable because Quinn worked on one side of the cake while he was tasting the other. Moose was standing around waiting for scraps too! Tripp was quite ginger with it, no real smashing took place but they both seemed to enjoy it (especially the Greek yogurt frosting).

Once the party wrapped, Tripp was very ready for a nap. We put him down, turned on a show for Quinn then DJ, Halston, Kevin and I sat around with coffee and cake and just chatted. It was a truly wonderful day! I always feel very grateful for the friends and family we have in our lives, and these big milestones are just reminders of how truly blessed we are to have people that love and support our children.

Thanks for reading!

Mackenzie

P.S. this post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I might earn a small commission if you make a purchase. Please know I’ll only ever share products I truly stand by and use! 🫶🏻