Greetings from “The Home” front ….

I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving. Our residents enjoyed turkey and stuffing with all the trimmings – a regular Thanksgiving feast. Some residents also received phone calls and face time visits from their families. It is not the Thanksgiving we had hoped for but everyone did their best to stay positive. Hopefully next year we can wish everyone a very HAPPY Thanksgiving and families can visit again. Thank you to Deb Sletten and Andrea Knudson for the cute Turkey magnet tray decorations that were made for each resident.

We had several fun activities this week starting with a rommagrot cart that went around to everyone’s room delivering that Norwegian favorite. On Tuesday there was Newscurrents and a Sing A- Long with Nancy. We played Turkey Charades on Wednesday and the ladies got their nails done just in time for Thanksgiving. On Thursday there was Turkey Trivia in the morning. Did you know the largest turkey on record weighed in at 86 lbs and that mature turkeys have approximately 3500 feathers. Later on we reminisced about what Thanksgiving means to us. Pastor Deb was here for virtual church on Friday and then we played Hallway Noodle Ball in the afternoon. After all that turkey, rommagrot and treats it was time for Sit & Be Fit on Saturday morning followed by Hallway Karaoke with ChiChi later on.

Next week we begin our Christmas Decorating. We also have Newscurrents, Sit & Be Fit and musical activities.

A special thank you goes to Riverside Church for the donation of prayer shawls for our residents on comfort care. They also said they were praying for all the staff and residents here at LMH. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Also thank you to Erica Baldock who donated puzzles for our residents to enjoy. Since residents are mainly confined to their rooms, doing jigsaw puzzles is one way to pass the time.

This acknowledgement and congratulations is long overdue – but we finally got the certificates and information booklets on the LMH staff members who were nominated for Caregiver of the Year award. Usually this event is held at the Long Term Care Conference in May but this year, with Covid, the conference was held virtually. Congratulations to the following staff members on your nomination: Laura Aanstad, Jennifer Almanza, Nancy Bjerke, Anna Bradner, Chandra Campbell, Carole Carpenter, Sharon Domier, Hannah Ellegaard, Monica Ellingson, Wanda Freadrich, Amanda Landa, Molly Lenaburg, Amanda Malson, Lisa Nelson, Courtney Savage, LeeAnn Strand, and Laurice Van Zee. The following departments were also nominated Activities, Therapy and Social Services. One resident nominated all the staff saying “they do a fantastic job in the care of all the residents”. That is so nice to hear!

We have one resident birthday next week – Ardie Lovejoy on December 4th. Sun Center resident Marian Johnson has her birthday on December 5th. There are several staff birthdays next week – Samantha Berry on December 1st; Mary Turpin on December 4th; Michelle Reck and Peggy Erickson on December 5th. Happy Birthday to all of you and enjoy your special day.

Until next time… a thought for the week … Die with memories, not dreams ….