The Breckenridges

Here she is getting expert instruction from her father. She has not quite yet mastered the art of the perfect pinata hit, but she works hard at it and every year she gets better and better.

In her tutu, making her wish, on her handcrafted cake. The kids present are children of some Hurricane Ike refugees staying with Mom and children of Mom's employees. They were a rowdy crowd, but we didn't burn the house down or break anything, so I call that a success.

While Bella and Josh visited Kenedy during our Hurricane Ike adventure, they attended the annual Lonesome Dove Fest in Karnes County. It is one of the major events that Mom helps organize every year in her role as Karnes County Chamber of Commerce director. They have many exhibits and one of them this year was Riding Longhorns. She actually got on it long enough for a picture to be taken!! We are so proud of her courage. Big animals and Bella usually don't go together, but she is growing up and learning the safe way to be around four-legged creatures that we ride. I can definitely say I have never ridden a Longhorn! Go bella!

Hello, everyone! Sorry it has been a while since I have posted. Life lately has been pretty crazy. Hurricane Ike swept through and in a matter of hours wrecked havoc on most of Texas. Our little house was in the middle of it all. I worked hard at the hospital through the storm, then we evacuated to Gatesville because we had no water or electricity. It was way too hot for Bella to stay at the lake house. I had to return to work today for the computer documentation training that we missed b/c of Ike. On Sunday, I have to work my first 12-hour shift as a nurse (in training, of course.) A bit apprehensive about it but I think that it will all work out. Just got word that the electricity is back on at my house, but with the shortage of gas in the area and my family far away, I am staying with a friend from work. We came out to her mom's house for tonight. The live on the other side of Lake Livingston in Coldsprings. It is beautiful here, with a nice breeze. The best part is that they have hummingbird feeders up all around the porch and lots of those little birds buzzing about. The hummingbirds definitely brightened my spirit and, as always, reassure me of the beautiful things in life I am so grateful for. Yes, hummers are still my most favorite things in the world. That's all for now. Until next time...

Hello, all! Just an update on what is happening in this neck of the woods. We have a bit of a storm headed this way, but Livingston is just going to get some high winds and a bit of rain. Josh and Isabella are going to hold down the fort here at the lake house. However, Conroe Regional (where I work) will be going on disaster lock-down tomorrow afternoon, in which I will have to sit out the hurricane from the hospital. They have already started filling Conroe Regional with critical care patients transferred in from all over the region, so they are going to need every extra hand available. Fun stuff for my first week, huh? I will actually be filling the role of a nurse technician during the hurricane because of my limited experience and unfamiliarity with the computer system. Though, I will be glad to have this experience, learning so much. So please pray that all will be safe and make it through the hurricane. We'll be on the outside edge and do not expect any lasting damage. Another adventure! Love to all and take care! I will write more as I can. ~hj

This was a picture that was taken at my graduation party, held at Jerry B's Restaurant (where I used to work). They have a giant swing in the back in a nice little grove of trees, which was lit up with hundreds of twinkle light. Bella always loved to go out there, and this is her approach of the giant swing. The rope made into the swing is from an offshore oil rig something-or-other, but was too shirt for their use so they gave it to Jerry B's and Mr. Alan (the owner) made a swing big enough for three people. Just thought it was a cool picture of my baby.

A beautiful evening! So calm and such soothing colors...

I am so excited!! The start date for the job I have been waiting so long for at Conroe Regional is finally here. As much as I have enjoyed my summer vacation, I am so ready to start work. I just hope I haven't forgot everything! Had to get a few things done this week, like my TB test, and CPR renewal. I did the CPR yesterday at the Woodlands Fire Dept. That was fun getting there...NOT! A bad wreck on Hwy. 105 (the road I take from Hwy. 59 to get to Conroe) had traffic stopped for over half an hour and, of course, the delay and traffic made me late. I was concerned about the amount of traffic in the opposite direction on the two-laned Hwy. 105. There was traffic bumper-to-bumper all the way from the Hwy. 59 intersection for about 15 miles to the little town called Cut-and-Shoot, almost all the way to Conroe. I have never seen anything like it and was grateful I was headed into Houston area than away from it ot I would be in the same predicament. I was thinking that if this is what traffic is like there is no way I could ever make it on time to my shift or home at a decent hour. Josh speculated that this was just traffic returning to Beaumont, after the threat of Hurricane Gustav had passed. Well, I got stuck in traffic at the same place returning home last night around 10:30. I know rush hour doesn't last that long!! So it probably was the returning evacuees. However, I am still going to find alternative routes, even if they are out-of-the-way back roads.

Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong, really wrong, and yet you see that throughout it all Heavenly Father is watching over you, taking care of the little things while you deal with the big thing? Well, yesterday was one of those days for our family. We had a trip planned to Kenedy for Grandpa Hunt's birthday party. The day started off great. Then a big, bad thunderstorm hit and our electricity was out for most of the afternoon, but the rain cooled the day off enough for us to head towards Kenedy. The ride was uneventful until we reached to toll plaza on Beltway 8 in Houston, as we pull in to pay the toll, 20 cars deep with no where to go, steam starts billowing out from underneath the hood. Then we hear a snapping sound and Josh's realized the main serpentine belt just broke. So we end up pulled over on a little 500 ft. stretch of shoulder on the toll road, waiting for help, as hundreds of cars are flying by, in the fading light of sunset. It was scary. The cool part was that there is free roadside assistance to get anyone that is stranded on the toll road off, because it is so dangerous. Any tollorad in Texas, as a matter of fact. So we were towed to a gas station off the beltway in a very bad part of Houston. The constable that transported Josh and our dog, Asia, said her couldn't in his right mind leave a young family stranded, especially in the bad neighborhood we were in. So even though he wasn't supposed to, he took Josh to the auto parts store to get the belt. Josh had it changed in record time and we were off again, everything well, or so we thought.

Just driving along, pulled out of Schulenburg, catching the highway that leads off I-10, to head to Kenedy, when low and behold, the belt snaps AGAIN!!! At this point, we know that there is something wrong with the ride and not just worn-out belt. So for the second time that night we were stranded on the side of the road. This time with no roadside assistance, in the middle of nowhere, with touch-and-go cell phone signal. This is around 11:30 PM, I call Mr. Hunt, my bonus dad, who graciously drives the long highway to pick us up.

Have you ever been stuck on the side of the road? Not just for a little while but a couple of hours, with no one and nothing in site, but the barking of dogs in the distance and faint rustles of grass in the pasture next to you, which you pray are cows. It was hot and humid, hardly a breeze. Josh got out and laid on the hood for a while and saw two shooting stars, one bright blue with a big streaking tail that disappeared in a bright flash of light. When I took my turn outside the car, I spread one of Bella's baby blankets she uses to wrap her baby dolls in the roadside weeds, careful to avoid the many mounds of fire ants. There I practiced something I haven't done in many years, whistling with a piece of grass through your thumbs and also cupping my hands, placed just so to blow through them that mournful dove-like sound. Took me a few minutes to get it just right, but I celebrated when I finally perfected the sound.

Needless to say we made it to The 505 at 3 AM, leaving the car right where is was on the side of the road, left to be dealt with at a later time in the daylight. Saturday afternoon, Josh and I journey back with proper part to fix it in hand (the onlypart in town). Took a total of ten minutes to replace the tension pulley and another 5 to put the belt on. She runs fine now. Quite a weekend adventure...or was it?

This summer we made a trip to Kerrville to visit Josh's aunt and see one of the places where he grew up. While we were that close to San Antonio with Josh's mom, Alice, and his sister, Judy, and her kids, Alice treated us with a trip to Sea World. We had a great time!!! Bella's favorite part was the Sea Lion Show and the penguins. We saw alligators, dolphins, played in the kiddie pool, and had a great time with our family. Bella enjoyed being Mother's Helper with her cousin, Abby, who is just starting to sit up on her own. Thank you, Nanny!!!

We love making summer memories!

Hello, sorry it has taken me so long to get back to this site. I have been so busy since I have been home! Today is my first chance to relax and read, play on the computer, etc. I had a wonderful visit to to the flatlands of the USA, Kansas...Dodge City, to be more specific. This is where my brother lives, with his wife and their new baby girl, Gaby. It was great to see them, but the best part was getting to hang out all day with my niece. She is such a good baby; it just amazed me. They are very blessed.

Hello, all! Took a trip to the plains to see my brother, his wife, and new baby, Gabrielle Drew. It was wonderful experience and I have found a place in my heart for my little niece. Will write more soon. Have to head to pick up Isabella. Until next time...

When Josh and I picked up Bella from her trip to see her Emmy and Tee Lee in Kenedy last weekend, we, of course, left her entire bag of clothes on the floor in the kitchen. Mom got the phone call the next morning, after we woke up, went to get Bella's clothes for school and realized that we had left her clothes 4 1/2 hours away. Bummer. You see, Bella is rough on clothing, as I think most kids are. She wears most of her food (her daddy says that is genetic, too, because I never fail to wear at least part of my dinner. He's not funny.) and she always finds dirt I didn't know was in my house, or the one marker that doesn't have a top, or she grows more and then everything is too short. I have lots of clothes for her, but with the stains and ill-fit, they are not the clothes I let her go into public with, not to mention she is...particular about her clothing and all the clothes she loved had been forgotten (for the first time ever) far, far away. So, while we waited for the box from Kenedy with her bag o' clothes in it, I got very creative while finding Bella her daily outfit. We managed just fine, she always looked cute, but it was a lot harder than if I just had her familiar, favorite clothes that fit.

The box was supposed to be in Livingston no later than Saturday, but just our luck, it didn't arrive until Monday. Well, it was just the slip that they put in your mail box, saying the box wouldn't fit and we would have to pick it up at the post office, before 5 PM. Try explaining that to a 3 year-old! What is even more frustrating is that the mail runs late in the day, so it wasn't in there when I left to go pick Bella up from school, believe me, I checked. But it was when we returned, and, of course, it was after 5 PM. Not only did I have to explain why we had a peach-colored card instead of her box, but also that we couldn't get it until the next day, after school. Let's just say after a million questions, rewording responses to answer the reworded questions, and her father telling her the exact same things I did, she was ready to let it pass. I asked her to put the package slip on the fridge with one of her magnets so that it wouldn't get lost, and many times throughout the evening I found her at the fridge just looking at it. Another thing about Bella, she NEVER forgets. Sure, you can change the subject for a while or distract her with other things, but before the day is done she'll talk to you about it again, never fails. So I wasn't surprised, as we read our stories before lights out, that the box and the post office kept sneaking in to our conversation. After reassurances and simple explanations, she drifted off to sleep to dream of her very own package in the mail.

The next morning, reminding her that we would go pick up her box from the post office after I picked her up from school was great stimulus to get her out of bed. She was at the door waiting on me so we could get to school, with her package slip in hand to put in the car for safe-keeping. The promise of the box also assisted in allowing me to take my leave with very little sniffling as I dropped her off, because she was so excited to tell her teacher about the package she was was going to acquire after school.

So, I picked her up a bit early to ensure we had plenty of time to go to the post office. She was so excited! Constant chatter as we waited in line, full of questions and pointing out all the things and happenings in the post office lobby. With slip in hand, she approached the counter, and then turned to me with arms raised so I could lift her up to speak with the postwoman. Everyone in there knew from our five minute wait in line exactly what we were there for and that this was her first big girl trip to visit the USPS. The nice lady behind the counter played her part in assisting Bella, spoke directly to her, took the slip from her hand and then went to retrieve the box from the back. The look on Bella's face was priceless!! A huge grin of expectation, with eyes and arms open wide as she reached for the box, but in the end turned to daddy to pick it up for her and carry it to the car. She couldn't believe how big it was and the smile never left her face. Her hand laid on top of it the whole way home, and it was like her birthday, she said, after daddy opened it and she saw her things. There was a new Kindermat for her nap times, all her clothes, her swimsuit (she thought is was forever lost), and a pumice stone for Bella to do her feet in the shower. Her Emmy told her that women never have rough feet and this is how we keep them soft, so, of course, Bella has to have one. At last, the box arrived and my daughter was content, finally!!!

Until next time...

What a wonderful day for yard work! Josh, Bella, and I just finished a late morning working in the yard. Bella has this little yellow rake that she uses like she is six-feet-tall. She also thinks she can push the wheelbarrow by herself. Too funny to watch. While I weeded the growth on the sand, she was playing mailman in her princess playhouse on the porch. She told me she received a letter from Emmy stating, "Hi, this is Emmy. I miss you and can't wait to see you. You can come visit The 505 again soon. See you later. Love you. Bye." The all important playhouse mailbag. It kept her occupied for quite some time. We sat on the edge of the lake on our breaks and watched the cormorants dive in and out of the lake. It became a game, guessing when and where they would appear on the surface.

Every evening on the neighbor's rope pole on his boat deck sits a Brandt's cormorant, making his evening fishing rounds. It is a special magic, all the waterbirds here at the lake. We see Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, cormorants, kingfishers, mallard ducks, even Canadian geese every once and a while. Their croaks and squawks echo across the water in the late evening. I often wonder where the nest grounds of these birds are around here. Herons are very private birds and it is a treat to see where they build their nests. We have had the pleasure of watching a baby mourning dove take cover at our wood pile for a few weeks. Bella would check on it every morning before we left for school. In the dirt under the carport, wrens frequently make it their dust bath. It is neat to see them only a few feet away, lost in a cloud of dust as the roll and splash in the dirt. The most comical of bird sightings is watching the mockingbirds chase the black squirrels out of tree and across the yard, yelling at them the whole time. I think we have inadvertently become avid bird-watchers. As soon as I can I will post pictures of the animals we see.

Until next time...

Another week gone by here at the lake. It has been peaceful and quiet, with nothing but an occasional heron or egret squawk. We have the best view of sunsets in the whole neighborhood, and when the sun hits just right, it is like you walked into heaven. So beautiful.

Bella has been a busy bee when she comes home from school. Emmy (my mom) got her a mirror and a little exercise trampoline that she makes good use of in her room. She just watches herself jump, play, sing, and anything else. She likes watching VHS in her room too because they don't mess up like the DVDs do (we have a DVD connection issue with her TV and it gets blurry sometimes), but we are having to learn the concept of rewinding the tape so we can watch it again. The convenience of the modern world!! She is so used to just pushing a button and going with DVDs that she get so frustrated with the VHS tapes. It is funny, but she is learning.

As for her school, she loves it and has made good friends. She still hates getting up in the morning, like her daddy, but once she gets going she rushes me out the door. However the closer we get to school, the quieter she gets, and when we walk inside she cries for me not to leave. The ladies at the school are great with her and allow me to put her in their arms and walk out the door, leaving my sniffling girl behind. They tell me she is fine two seconds after I walk out the door so that gives me comfort. Should she still be crying though after almost two months? Well, when I reflect upon her personality and the life we as father, mother, and daughter have created, I see that she is a well-attached child who loves being with us. This is also her first school, first time being around many other kids, so it will be a period of adjustment in which I am willing to wait out. The books say one to have one major change at a time happen with children. Bella has had a move, a new school, and leaving her 505 family all in one swoop. Also, I suspect the attachment issue is possibly genetic as well. Alice, Josh's mom, told me that Josh was just like Bella when it came to leaving, or being left, by the mother until he was in second grade or so. Like Josh says, "I love my momma!" Too funny...I guess it is genetic.

We are enjoying our summer vacation, full of books and sunsets. Until next time...

So I have heard a lot about blogging, and finally decided to try it. Please bear with me as I learn this new online realm of communication. There have been a lot of new changes in my life recently. The end of school, leaving of my home for the past three years, a move to a town I didn't know, a quickly growing child, a new profession. Most importantly, I think, is my new status as a Registered Nurse. My education is no where near complete, but I have made the first step on the life-long road of being a nurse. This is my true calling, other than being a mother, of course. Anyone who knows me will tell you that. It took me long enough to figure it out, but here I am. Initially, my goal was to work in OB, with new mommies and babies, but a wise instructor directed me out of my comfort zone and into the ICU. I loved my rotations there during school and just received notice that I have been accepted into an ICU internship. I will write more on that later.

Isabella is learning what it is like to be a big girl. I am so proud of her. She has recently been enrolled in a local Montessori school, her first school ever. We still cry a bit during morning drop-off (both of us), but we are adjusting. Leaving her Emmy, Tee Lee, her birds, and The 505 was a bit of a shock for her. She crawled on those floors before there was carpet laid, a part of her spirit will always be there, I think. She lives a full life here at the lake, though. She just enjoyed a week long parent-free vacation in Kenedy with Mom and she returned to me 10 feet taller, refreshed and bright.

My book is calling me. Until next time...