Today we would like to celebrate laughter, red noses, whoopee cushions and having fun.  Bettina Milliken has been a fixture in Vista Care for many years now. Bettina has a Master’s in Art Therapy from Southwestern College in Santa Fe.  She has used her creativity, humor and boundless energy to bring joy to elders in Santa Fe and to our homes for more than 20 years.  Bettina reaches people by singing, laughing, playing and talking.  She gives permission to laugh whether 1:1 or with a group.  Over the years, the “GROOP” she started has offered hope and bliss for elders and we would like to celebrate with kazoos, jokes and great days for all.

​Laughter doesn’t just make elders healthier, it can be a saving grace for caregivers as well.  We all need to be reminded to not always take ourselves so seriously.  Thank you Santa Fe Clown Care for this reminder! 

Our fabulous caregivers never say no to the risk of normalization while caring for our elders.  Elders bake peanut butter cookies with minimal supervision and enjoy every single minute.

Caregivers will prepare the ingredients, oven temperature, and supplies needed for the elders so they can focus solely on the art of mixing and baking.

Chunky or creamy, with jelly or with chocolate, peanut butter has been a staple for generations! Our lovely Vista Living homes celebrate National Peanut Butter Day annually on January 24th. 

-The newest team member of the Sierra Vista Family is James Pingel also known as Jim, or to our elders “that nice young man.”

Jim comes to us from a background that didn’t deal with health care but felt it was time for a change he said there was a calling to make a difference in the lives of those around him. That is exactly what he does he brings a smile to the faces of elders with his stories and songs and acting monologues.  He in no way is shy to doing what he needs to do to get an elder laughing and enjoying that moment of their day.

We talk a lot about the engagement of our Elders here at Sierra Vista and how important that they feel connected and while we did it well before Jim joined us, we do it even better now with his energy and we are grateful to the love and care that Jim gives when he for the 100th time answers the same question or is followed around from room to room as he busily tries to keep all elders at different stages in their disease active and engaged. So when you come by for a tour don’t be surprised if he pulls you into song or dance as you walk by that is just the fun-loving guy he is.

This month is National Glaucoma month and we are happy to offer a caregiver tip for those who are mildly or even severely visually impaired. Not only glaucoma can affect vision, but cataracts, head injuries and even age affect vision.   Our wonderful caregiver Ivonne understands that if her elder has Alzheimer's there is a possibility he or she may either refuse to wear their glasses, misplace his or her glasses, break his or her glasses, or perhaps glasses don't improve vision at all.  Through hard work and training Ivonne understands the concept of cognitive blindness as well.  Meaning, the elder has no physiological impairment but due to the dementia cannot "see" what we need them to see (speaking figuratively).  She will find projects for the elder that don't require reading rather, Ivonne will find projects where they can use other senses to feel like they're contributing to a project.  Folding, stuffing envelopes, or handing over a sheet of paper. 

Vista Hermosa celebrated the Holidays with respect for Santa Fe’s ancient Christian traditions including a live Nativity.  Yolanda our Director in training, brought her sons; Ivan and Ernesto who portrayed St. Joseph and one of the three kings or wise men.  Estefani our lovely caregiver’s children played Mary and a second king, while Laura’s son Joshua was the third king.  Bonfires lit the way as many invited guests gathered.  Our friend and neighbor Connie, a native of Picuris Pueblo, shared stories of growing up at Picuris with bonfires on Christmas Eve and was enamored that we would have roaring bonfires.  Our elders, their families and our wonderful Vista Hermosa friends and neighbors ate delicious traditional foods, listened to live music, danced and shared the special friendship of Christmas, Winter Solstice, Kwanza, and Hanukkah! Our beautiful antique menorah was lit each night for Hanukah, followed by delicious latkes.

It is the time of year to count the angels we all have in our lives and remember how much kindness there is out there.  It is a true blessing to be surrounded by the ladies in this picture.  The caregivers at Vista Hermosa are a special group of hardworking, creative, intelligent and exceptionally loving women.  Each one of them brings something special to the work they do every day. It can be too easy to see the darkness in this world and too easy to forget to be grateful for the angels in our midst.  Our caregivers, elders, families and friends all give light and life to our small part of this world.  Thank you.  Muchas Gracias.  Much Love and Many Prayers to every one of you.

A favorite at the Arbors! Description here...

Our youngest Elder at Sierra celebrates her 53 birthday with us. Here she is shown with her wonderful caring parents who came to celebrate this beautiful day with their daughter.

Each of our Elders come from such amazing backgrounds and each one has a story of what brought them to where they are today. Despite the tragedy many days here at Sierra are filled with laughter and enjoyment from so many simple pleasures of daily living. We are reminded daily not only how quickly life can change but also that in the important thing in life is not found in our wealth and accumulation of objects but rather it is the love and caring of those that surround you in times of sorrow and in times of joy that truly matters and brings us the greatest joy in life.

We also celebrated Ms. Lonnie’s 92nd Birthday this month. She was very surprised and so happy with her flowers and cake.

We just celebrated Dr. Raymond Willem’s 82nd birthday with  a beautiful cake made by his wife.

At Vista Living Care we celebrate life and pride ourselves in making each and every one of our elders feel special.

Vista Hermosa elders worked on beautiful handmade cards that were mailed to their children this past week. Irene, Lucy M and Lucy Romero, Joan and Virginia all created cards with handmade paper, drawings and origami paper. These cards are a creative way to express love, appreciation and connection. The process of picking color, texture and pattern becomes a conversation.
Our elders are also helping take this idea on the road for the Hospice Education Day on November 10th .

Vista hermosa will be sponsoring an open art workshop focused on cardmaking as communication and meditative journaling. We are thankful to Ambercare Hospice and coming Home connections for inviting us to bring our creative space to the day long education, comfort and support of our Santa Fe
community.

Supplies for this event were chosen and organized with the help of our elders. Joan, Carol and Virginia. Carolyn also gave feedback on our journaling project selecting the right journal for beginners.

We welcome All our trick or treaters, children and grandchildren to visit Vista Hermosa on Halloween at 3:45pm after school to trick or treat.
Candy, Drinks and snacks will be served to all; Princesses, ghouls, superheroes and Goblins.

Please come in costume!

The “craft ladies” of the Arbors of Del Rey began coming approximately one year ago.  These ladies have or had a loved one at the Arbors and spend their Friday mornings with coffee and donuts, incorporating a seasonal craft which brings much excitement and enjoyment to each Elder and family member.  The group originally started with only about three ladies, and presently there are at least ten attending – most of them are family members.

The Arbors lights up with happiness, laughter, music and real entertainment with each piece of art created by the Elder.  The art work is displayed in the dining room, hallways and living area for visitors and family to marvel at. It is an event that is looked forward to each and every week by all of us here at the Arbors.
 
This beautiful piece of art created by our Elders, family members, and staff is currently being framed and will on exhibit on our art wall at the Arbors.

This group of singers have started coming to the Arbors quite frequently and FREE of charge to us!

Music is something that is so enjoyable to our Elders and staff. Their performances include popular music from many genres expanding eight decades of Life, Love, Friendship and Happiness. Popular music from pop/rock, jazz/swing, gospel, country, and Broadway and film.

Their performances are some upbeat foot-stomping, toe-tapping, hand-clapping songs, some beautiful ballads, and some fun and funky chart-topping Pop hits too.

We are so delighted to have found this group at a senior expo, and even more thrilled they perform right here at the Arbors and bring so much merriment to our Elders. This group of singers also perform through out the Las Cruces community and have an upcoming musical at the Atkinson Recital Hall on the campus of New Mexico State University.

Vista Living will be taking over the air waves on August 4th 2018 at 2:30 pm. Yolanda Arrey, MSW and Ruth Dennis MA were interviewed for the first in a series of discussions on aging, Alzheimer’s and healthy living. Our host is Jewel Cabeza de Vaca, producer of the Healthy Woman at KSFR 101.1 FM Santa Fe Public Radio.

In this initial show we discussed a wide range of issues related to Alzheimer’s and how to care for yourself while caring for someone you love. We will follow with discussions on specific topics that all of us who are young-at-heart face.

Vista Hermosa will keep you posted!

Vista Hermosa’s beautiful apricot tree is simply loaded with delicious apricots.  On Tuesday, Laura, our elders and caregivers harvested two large baskets of fruit.  Elders and caregivers then spent all afternoon in Vista Hermosa’s kitchen making jam and apricot cake from scratch.  The smell from the kitchen is simply irresistible.  The cake was delicioso in Robert’s words and all our Vista Hermosa family ate very well.

We harvested at just the right time.  Our much-anticipated kitchen remodeling adventure started promptly at 8 am last Wednesday.

Father’s Day is a time to remember how much all the men in our lives matter.  Our elders Robert Sandoval, Ron Coss and Alfred Lutz celebrated Father’s Day at Hermosa with flowers, homemade desserts and the loving company of family and friends.  These amazing guys make all our lives at Vista Hermosa better.  Robert brings music, candy, faith and family to our home.  Ron shares wonderful dining room table discussions and the addition of his big, beautiful family to our home.  Alfred is always there with a joke, a dance and an amazing smile to make the day bright.  We are also honored by the memory of all the men who we have had the honor of caring for.  Thank you.  And on this Father’s Day we can’t forget the skill, intelligence and support offered by Luke, Gary, Allen and our amazing volunteer Craig. Thank you.  You are all special.  Vista Hermosa also honors the gifts of all the husbands, brothers, sons and grandsons who make life better for all of us.   

The New Mexico State University Department of Special Education of Communication Disorders Masters of Speech Pathology student’s practicum hours are concentrated at the Arbors Dementia community in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  They participate twice per week, the entire semester encompassing the whole school year.

For the most part, eight to ten students participate per session for a period of at least two hours, engaging every single one of our Elders. The schedule for each day begins with the Pledge of Allegiance, impeccably recited by every Elder, students and staff. An amazing experience of memory windows from our Elders is observed by everyone.

After the opening of the sessions, the Elders work with orientation – date, time and season. Moving into simple ROM/Stretching exercises, songs, language activity, arts and crafts and sensory activities.  These multiple techniques are so important to the quality of life of our Elders by connecting both sides of the brain.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please be introduced to the “Real Cowboy” famous country and western singer and songwriter, who has traveled the world and entertained the masses with his incredible passionate guitar and voice.

Mr. Tom Morris attends all function in our beautiful city of Las Cruces, New Mexico and takes his music entertainment to multiple venues. We here at the Arbors are so grateful to have found this local gem who brings the beauty of music to our Elders who sign and tap their feet right along with him.

Thank You to; Margaret Harrach for donating an awesome selection of art books to our library.  Thank you for your support.

Thank You to; Velma Arellano and Deb Nachtrab for your design, décor and remodel skills.  The first stage of our project is a true success.  You Rock!

Vista Hermosa elders are exercising their freedom to choose daily activities, events and priorities through the creation of our monthly calendar.  Alfred is working with the “Big Pen” to create this month’s calendar.  Each month our elders work as a team with Laura, Yolanda, and our awesome caregivers to line up parties, volunteer work, creative projects and wellness exercises to embrace life at Hermosa.  Our handwritten calendar allows us added spontaneity by being able added last minute pizza parties, ice cream socials and other fun.

Sierra Vista recognizes and honors our Elders and all their accomplishments in their lives. Being a Father is a huge Deal and we want our fathers to feel that same love they would if they were spending time with their children at their home. This Father’s Day a barbeque and celebration with staff, families and elders was enjoyed. We Honor and are Thankful for the Fathers in our home. Here you see a glimpse of a few of those elders enjoying their lunch. The elders take pride in helping with the preparation of the food from cutting tomatoes to separating the lettuce and the best part enjoying the fruits of their labor in a great lunch. Families trust in us to celebrate these moments with their loved one when they are unable to do so because of the distance that often is an issue for many of our families.

Sierra Vista provides so much for or Elders daily from companionship, personal care, assistance with many needs, compassion, and most of all Love.

While we all work hard at our jobs much of the credit for this outstanding care is in thanks to our amazing Caregivers. This is something that never goes unnoticed by those who work with the elders but also by the families who have entrusted their loved one to us. They always want to make sure that the caregivers who work so hard know how greatly appreciated they are.

In this photo a son of a former elder who passed away brought in a cake in celebration of his mother’s life, gave away many of her personal belongings, and raffled off her favorite perfume.

These gestures mean so much to our staff because they know that their hard work is appreciated on a level that no amount of money could put a price on and allow them to continue to have memorabilia of the ones they have cared for over the years.

We thank our Families for Showing these wonderful group of caregivers how appreciated they truly are!

At Sierra Vista the learning never stops! Our staff takes pride in the fact that we work with interns from different schools in the Santa Fe area. Internships are done in our home where we strive to provide students with a well-rounded experience in the world of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.  Our interns like the one in this picture, Bernadette Mares from NMHU, learn that our elders love to engage in reading and is a great way to interact and participate. Students see how simple pleasures make all the difference in the way that we interact together. As a step further and keeping with our Eden Philosophy you see one of our Youth Volunteers, Zoey, engaging in the book, adding value to the interaction between her and the elder. Her youthful curiosity brightens an Elders day by her just participating and being present. Zoey among other youth have come to learn that the value of time and presence can really enhance a person’s life especially one who is struggling with Dementia. I can’t think of a better way to spend the first day of summer than on a beautiful patio out in the court yard of Sierra Vista surrounded by such lovely people. Enjoying the simple pleasure of each other’s company.