The Sloan family moved to Twin Rivers last November, but they are certainly not new to the neighborhood. 

While Alison grew up in the Dallas area, Nate was born and raised in Houston. Nate and Alison are both Baylor Bears (‘10 & ‘11) but did not meet until after college and got married in 2013. After deciding to stick around instead of returning to Dallas or Houston, Waco became home and the central meeting point for extended family events.  

In 2016, Alison Sloan’s parents, Mike and Michelle Garzone, moved to Twin Rivers after living in Dallas for over thirty years. At the time, Alison and Nate had just welcomed their first child, Oakley. After countless commutes up and down I-35, Mike and Michelle desired to live closer to their first grandson. When they found a neighborhood in Waco that resembled the one they currently lived in, they knew it was time to make a move. Literally. Over the next few years, Alison and Nate would come to appreciate the Twin Rivers community while spending time with the Garzones, whether it was out spending time at the pool, having competitive mother/son-in-law pickleball games, or attending the community events for the grandkids. 

As Waco continued to be the Sloans and now the Garzones’ home, Nate’s parents still traveled frequently from Houston to visit. Those visits increased in 2019, when Nate and Alison’s daughter, Laurel, was born. After realizing the Fairfield Inn wasn’t quite cutting it, Nate’s parents decided to buy a house in Waco to stay at when they came in town. Karen, Nate’s mom, loved the neighborhood her son’s in-laws lived in for the beautiful homes and the sidewalk trail that circled the pond, where she could get in her daily run. In 2021, when the housing market was hot, the Thompsons took the chance to invest in prime real estate that would foster more opportunities to spend time with their family. 

With two kids and two sets of parents in the neighborhood, Alison and Nate decided the only reasonable thing to do was to move into the neighborhood as well. In June of 2024, a house hit the market that was two houses down from Nate’s parents. Alison happened to check the listings that day and thought, How funny it would be if we lived two houses down from my mother-in-law. This thought soon became a reality when they were given the keys in July. After some functional and cosmetic renovations, Nate, Alison, Oak, Laurel, and their dog Virgo became neighbors with both of their families.

Now, you’re probably thinking, “Here comes the next season of Everybody Loves Raymond.” But the dynamic of these three families is something unique. Alison and Nate are very grateful to have such wonderful parents and in-laws. The value their presence has brought into their lives and their children’s lives is something to be cherished. It takes a village to raise a family, and the Villages at Twin Rivers has done just that for the Sloans.