The Adriana Estates Story: Grief, Grit, and a Castle Full of Joy

When guests step into Adriana Estates, they always say the same thing: you can feel the love here. It’s in the way Beatriz greets people by name. It’s in the way Brandon is already fixing, fetching, or rigging something magical (sometimes literally—he’s a licensed pyrotechnician who does fireworks send-offs for weddings). And it’s in the purpose behind the place: a dream built to honor their daughter, Adriana.

Years ago, Beatriz was a kindergarten teacher and young mom. A sudden virus changed everything. Their baby girl became critically ill, and in the hardest weeks of their lives, they faced impossible conversations. “A doctor asked if we were sure we wanted to keep her on life support,” Beatriz recalls. “She talked about how it might ‘inconvenience’ our lives. I remember thinking: that’s my child. Different doesn’t mean less.”

After losing Adriana, the world kept spinning—but Beatriz couldn’t. “I didn’t get out of bed for months,” she says. “Then I watched an episode of My Lottery Dream Home where a couple turned their property into a wedding venue. It clicked. I wanted to create a place of positive memories in our daughter’s name.”

They prayed, saved, and said yes—again and again—until the “castle” at Adriana Estates was real. Beatriz put her life savings into the project three separate times to make it what couples experience today: a venue where love stories unfold, and where the owners keep showing up long after the last dance. “I follow our couples on Facebook, message them on anniversaries—we really love them,” she says. “When people support us, we can support the community.”

Breakfast with Santa: A Castle Tradition

That community heartbeat shows up most clearly at Breakfast with Santa—their annual, completely free celebration for families. What began as a “wouldn’t it be cool” idea has grown into a full-scale morning of wonder: hot breakfast, cocoa, bounce houses, a petting zoo (including a nativity scene), train rides, and yes—a toy for every child.

Growing up, Beatriz spent years in middle school, high school, and early college without electricity, water, or Christmas gifts. “There were no presents at all,” she recalls. “I wanted to create a day where every child leaves with a toy, a full belly, and a memory.”

Over time, the event has grown even deeper roots. Families in need attend the first two time slots; every two to three minutes, volunteers draw a name and gift out donated gift cards—Walmart, restaurants, Academy, and more—to help with essentials and gifts at home.

“I’ll never forget the mom who cried when she won a $100 Walmart card,” Beatriz says. “She told me we had no idea what that would do for her family.”

One story still fuels Beatriz on the hardest days. A mother—adjusting to raising her children alone after her partner was suddenly no longer in the picture—brought her daughter, who fell in love with a snowman book from the storytime corner (Beatriz’s mom, a longtime teacher, reads to the kids all morning). After the event, the mom returned to pick up extra toys so she would have gifts to place under the tree.

“She surprised her daughter with that exact book,” Beatriz says. “By February, she messaged that it had been read 400 times.”

Doing It Anyway

This year, Beatriz is fighting stage 2, grade 2 breast and lymph node cancer. When Brandon gently asked if they should pause the event, she thought of that mother and her daughter—and all the families just like them.

“How could we not do it?” she says. “I’ll crawl out of chemo if I have to.”

They aren’t doing it alone. Local friends and businesses have stepped up in big ways: Fox Nutrition, Tracy at Baker’s Ribs, Savannah Burr State Farm, John Verity Insurance, Breaker Pro, Texas Wunder Works, and more. Volunteers flip pancakes, run games, help with toys, greet families, and handle the behind-the-scenes hustle.

Beatriz and her mother-in-law load their vehicles at Costco and Sam’s. And toy mountain—last year stacked several feet high—rises again thanks to drop-offs across Hunt County and a Black Friday car literally packed to the ceiling.

“Every time we finish something at the venue, I dream up the next thing,” Beatriz laughs. But the “next thing” always circles back to the first calling: turn pain into generosity, and make space for joy.

Event Snapshot: Breakfast with Santa (Completely Free)

• Who: Families in need (reserved time slots) + Open to the public
• When: November 29, 2025 : Families in need 8–9 a.m. and 9–10 a.m.; Open to the public 10–11 a.m.
• Where: Adriana Estates (the “castle”) : 373 Farm to Market Road 1903, Greenville, Tx 75402
• What’s included: Hot breakfast (pancakes, tacos, sausage/ham/bacon), cocoa, petting zoo & nativity, train rides, photos with Santa, a toy for every child, and raffled gift cards (families in need time slots only).
• Tickets: Free. Time-slot reservations help manage crowd size. These may be fully claimed by the time you read this.

How You Can Help (Most Needed First)

• New toy donations: The “toy mountain” is the magic.
• Gift cards ($25–$100): Walmart, grocery, restaurants, Academy—used for raffles during families-in-need hours.
• Monetary donations: Help cover event costs (petting zoo, reindeer when available, food).
• Food donations: Bulk breakfast items welcome (coordination needed).
• Volunteer day-of: Greeters, toy runners, cocoa crew, cleanup.

Drop-off locations:
Cash Fire Department • Fox Nutrition • Baker’s Ribs • W. Walworth Harrison Public Library • Caddo Mills City Hall • Sabert • Savannah Burr State Farm • Forbes Plumbing

Volunteer or coordinate a donation:
Call/text Beatriz — 469-789-9806

Beyond the Castle: Their Many Hats

Beatriz and Brandon are the definition of “hands full, hearts open.” Alongside Adriana Estates, they operate:

• Forbes Plumbing — trusted local service
• Forbes Financial — Beatriz’s 15-year insurance practice serving individuals and employer groups (it helped fund the early castle dream)
• Kennedy Entertainment Park / Hunt County Raceway — races and future community events (hayrides, drive-in movies)
• Pyrotechnics — Brandon is a licensed pyro for professional fireworks; yes, he does wedding send-offs and holiday shows

Each venture loops back into the same promise: as the businesses grow, the giving grows.

Why It Matters

Maybe the magic of Breakfast with Santa isn’t just the castle or the cocoa or the train rides. Maybe it’s the way a community keeps choosing one another—how local businesses quietly underwrite the wonder, how volunteers flip pancakes till their arms ache, how a mother and daughter read a snowman book 400 times and heal a little more each page.

Beatriz says it best: “If you support us, we’re able to support the community.”
In a year that has stretched so many families, that simple circle of generosity might be the best gift of all.

Editor’s Note

When I sat down with Beatriz for this interview, she was only a few days out from her third round of chemotherapy. We paused more than once so she could catch her breath or sip water, but each time, she came back to the same message: “I just want to make sure the kids have Christmas.”
That quiet strength stayed with me long after I left Adriana Estates. This story isn’t only about a castle, or an event, or even about loss—it’s about what it means to keep showing up for others, no matter what season you’re walking through.
— April Pire, The Local Letter