‘Alaskan Bush People’ Star Bear Brown Sends Brother Gabe Sweet Birthday Message

Bear Brown is wishing brother Gabe Brown a happy birthday as the Alaskan Bush People star rang in his 31st birthday Tuesday. Sharing a sweet photo of the two, Bear, 33, celebrated his close bond with his little brother on his private Instagram account. “Today is Gabe’s Birthday!” he captioned the shot. “My first little brother! We were always best buddies! As kids nearly inseparable! Happy Birthday, bro!!!!”

Alaskan Bush People fans were quick to send their well-wishes too. “No way! It’s my dog’s birthday today too!!! Wishing Gabe the bestest birthday ever!” one person commented. “Happy birthday and many blessings, Gabe,” another added, as a third chimed in, “Happy Birthday, [Gabe]! Hope and pray all is well with you and your’s!”

It’s been quite the year for Gabe, who welcomed daughter Sophie with wife Raquell privately and introduced her to the world in a September 2020 episode of the Discovery show. “Being a dad is great; you know, taking care of little ones. I feel like I was kind of geared for it,” he said in the episode. “It’s definitely different, though, when you’re the dad. Like, you’re the guy… the buck stops there.”

Gabe added that while his upbringing in the wilderness was unconventional, he wanted the same thing for his little girl. “Life on the mountain’s pretty rough. But that’s the way all of my brothers and sisters grew up,” he continued on the show. “I don’t want her to be a city baby. I want her to be a bush baby. So I want some of her first sights and smells to be of the bush, so she remembers what my childhood reminds me of.”

Gabe and Raquell announced they were to become parents in July 2019, telling PEOPLE at the time, “We’re so thrilled to share we’re expecting a new addition to our family this November,” the couple, who married just seven months prior, said at the time. “God has blessed us in so many ways, and we can’t wait to meet our little one this fall.”

“Gabe and Raquell are both adventurous, kind souls, and I know they will be amazing parents,” Gabe’s younger sister, Rain, gushed at the time. Sophie was the second grandchild for Billy and Ami Brown, who celebrated son Noah and his wife, Rhain Alisha, giving birth to son Elijah Connor Brown in February of 2019. “He’s already working on his howl! Rhain is a wonderful mother already, I am truly in awe of her, and we are both very grateful and excited to welcome him to our family,” Noah told PEOPLE at the time of his birth.