Kimberly Williams-Paisley may have had to recently bid farewell to her son William Huckleberry as he became the first of her kids to move to college, but in his absence, she welcomed another member to the family. Over the weekend, the Father of the Bride actress, who will next star in 9-1-1: Nashville, rang in her 54th birthday. And as her husband Brad Paisley, who she married in 2003, shared a tribute in her honor, he revealed the family celebrated not only her birthday but also the arrival of a new baby donkey at their farm.
On Sunday, September 14, Kimberly's birthday, Brad took to Instagram and shared a sweet photo of Kimberly leaning on the ground, tending to a newborn donkey freshly up on their feet. "A beautiful donkey was just born on our farm. Speaking of, it's the beautiful @kimberlywilliamspaisley 's birthday today!" Brad then announced in his caption.
"Happy birthday!" he went on, before joking: "As I write this I realize what a bad idea it may have been to combine the two announcements. I'm not saying they are in any way similar. Or that she is a....Maybe I should edit th…" Fans were then quick to take to the comments section under the post and gush over it, though first Kimberly herself joked back: "A hundred bucks says if that donkey wasn't born on our farm, he’d have forgotten it was my birthday."
Others followed suit with: "Happy birthday to your lovely bride!" and: "Haha! Happy Happy Birthday to the world's most memorable bride," as well as: "Happy birthday Kimberly! Precious donkey!" plus another also wrote: "Happy Birthday to Kimberly!! Looking forward to seeing her on 9-1-1: Nashville!!"
Last month, as Kimberly, who is also a mom to son Jasper Warren, 16, commemorated her eldest's college move, she shared a photo of an old letter that he wrote her when he was seven years old, which read: "Com visit me in calij. Love huck," and: "You promes," to which in turn Kimberly wrote in her caption: "I promes I promes I promes," with a red heart and crying emojis, adding in hashtags: "college drop off," and "he wrote this when he was 7," plus: "still counts."
Kimberly and Brad are based in Nashville, Tennessee, where 9-1-1: Nashville filmed. She stars as Cammie Raleigh, a 911 dispatcher, opposite Chris O'Donnell, LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Capshaw, Michael Provost, Hailey Kilgore, Juani Feliz, Hunter McVey, Kane Brown, and Tim Matheson. Jessica, recently speaking with her Grey's co-star Camilla Luddington on their podcast Call It What It Is of being on set, said of Kimberly: "I love [her] so much," and revealed: "I've already had dinner with her multiple times. She and I have gone on a hike. She's so awesome."
She also gushed about her on-screen husband Chris, who she has known for over two decades since they worked on The Practice together. "I adore [him] and have known him for a really long time," she said, recalling: "I remember feeling like a baby actress, and I remember feeling like he was not a baby actor. He was accomplished, and I'd seen so many movies he'd done that I love so much."
Chris will be starring as Captain Don Sharpe, while Jessica will play his on-screen wife Blythe, and their son Ryan will be played by Michael. "My first work was with Michael, and I adore him," she also said of her on-screen son. "I feel so, so lucky to have such a talented and kind and just awesome person to work with."