roman holiday

rome, georgia, that is.

rome is picturesque.  it's a small town.  it reminds me of the movie, "hope floats".

in a big city, you are anonymous.  you have to find a community that suits you or create your own.

it's different there. in rome, my sister-in-law and her family are prominent in the town.  she has worked with a local youth group for years.  he is the head basketball coach at shorter university, one of the private colleges there.  they landed back in rome because chad is from there and a great job opportunity arose.  i'm not lying when i say they were approached/greeted by  at least ten people at a restaurant downtown, all of whom they know by name.

it is so different than life in a big city, and it was such a treat to experience life on the other side, if only for a little while.  karin and chad are two of our favorite people on the planet, so any time spent with them is treasured by us.  and without fail, i cry everytime we hug good-bye.

here is a peek at our small-town thanksgiving:

1) the shorter hawks won a basketball game and crosby slept throughout the entire thing.

 our brother-in-law is the one crouched down, motivating his team.  he's good at that.

 papa and ben decided to cheer from up top.

 can you tell that our nephew jack and croby are related?  they've got a similar bonner thing going on with their looks.

 after the game, the kids get to play on the court.  ben was trying to "guard" this college student.  the best part was the kid let him, which made ben feel like a bad-ass.

 2) it's funny how connections are made with-in a group of cousins.  jack and ben are fast friends despite the age difference.

 and since our baby was a baby, the oldest cousin has always been his most special friend.

 3) chris has tried to convince the girls that he is a ballerina.  they don't believe him.

 4) this was the first family trip of no naps.  the kids ate together and played together without a sleep schedule in sight. the adults sat for too long at the dinner table, telling stories, drinking wine, and laughing.  freeeeeeeedom!

 5) my in-laws are retiring to rome this summer.  they bought a house and are renting it until they are able to move down.  isn't it precious?

 6) there were restaurant shenanigans

 and coffee shop shenanigans.

 7) chad and karin coordinated a neighborhood kickball game while we were there.  my friend joked that they were like the bravermans from parenthood, which is not a huge stretch at all.  they are adam and christina, to be exact.

 the cousins kicked, they cried, they cheered, they celebrated, they climbed trees and drank hot chocolate.

 8) we celebrated thanksgiving (some of us in last year's christmas sweaters).

 9) papa cheered up our otherwise very grumpy boy.

 10) their elf, coca-cola made an appearance while we were there, so nana read all about it.

 11) the kids got goofier as the days went on.

 12) on our last night, the cousins shared their talents with us.  ben and jack were ninjas, caroline was a geisha gymnast, aly was a masked ballerina, and crosby, well, he cried and whined and rolled-around on the floor.  stage fright?

on our way home there was no rain, no stop in memphis, no chicken wings, just a car full of texans sad to leave their family for home.  we're already looking forward to the next time we are all together.

how was your thanksgiving?  did you travel?

i am thankful for you, dear readers.

love,

coco