The April We Cook! Honors Award goes to Vista Hermosa! 

Vista Hermosa stole the trophy from the Arbors, ending their three month winning streak. Vista Hermosa stole the show this month with their variety, presentation, and flare. Not only did they make delicious food, they also prepared homemade drinks and smoothies!

On the menu were many tasty treats like:
Chilaquiles, eggs, garlic bread, smoothies, red spaghettini, corn beef, fresh fruit, watermelon agua fresca, hot fudge cake, and much more! 

Watch out for next month's winner, because it's going to be tough competition and it's anyone's game!

Ruth Dennis and Yolanda Rodriguez from Vista Hermosa made a special trip to Sweeny Elementary in Santa Fe to read to the students. It was a fun experience for everyone involved and Ruth and Yolanda can't wait to do it again! 

The elders at Vista Hermosa had a great time creating collages from newspapers and magazines. The caregivers and staff helped the elders bring their creativity to life! It was a wonderful afternoon filled with coloring, collaboration, and collages. Our elders love to do hands-on activities so we try to incorporate them into our days as much as possible.

​Vista Hermosa by VLC Santa Fe, is proud to announce NAHCA scholarship winners: Yolanda Rodriguez, CNA/Administrator in Training; along with Laura Aleman de Morales CNA Administrative Assistant of the 2019 Annual CNA fest in Little Rock Arkansas.   They were nominated by Velma Arellano, Dir. of Operations, and were required to write a 500 word essay about what caregiving means to them, as part of the required criteria. These two outstanding employees have been with Vista Living for 10 years combined and were joined by 222 CNA’s and other professionals from around the United States and from here in New Mexico, who all began their successful careers as CNAs.  The mission of the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) is to elevate the professional standing and performance of caregivers through recognition, advocacy, education and empowerment while building a strong alliance with health care providers to maximize success and quality patient care. Avery special thank you to Tracy Atler of the New Mexico Health Care Association (NMHCA) for her guidance during the nomination process. Congratulations girls!

These three lovely ladies, Carol Valdez from Sierra Vista, Yolanda Rodriguez and Ruth Dennis from Vista Hermosa, just attended a workshop on fall prevention, We always make sure that safety is a priority at all three of our homes, and are constantly having our awesome staff stay current on the best practices. To see more of what these ladies learned about in their workshop, click on the photo above!

At our three homes we love to get everyone involved when preparing meals. Our Elders enjoy having responsibility and being part of the process of planning and prepping our home cooked meals. Our Elders, caregivers, and even our Executive Directors get involved in putting love and care into the food that they serve. The open feel of the kitchen is welcoming and inviting, and gives everyone a sense of being at home in their own kitchen. The delicious smells of food fill the air each day and it truly feels like a loving home.

Wow, 20 years already! Vista Living Care just celebrated twenty years of providing excellent, loving care for their elders.
The staff, elders, children of caregivers, friends, and family came together to celebrate the release of Mindful Dementia Care, a book written by our very own Ruth Dennis.  The party was held in the beautiful outdoor area of Vista Hermosa, one of our two homes in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We had many special guests in attendance including Luke Nachtrab, the owner of Vista Living Care, and his sweet family. Luke's two daughters can be seen in the photos dancing with some of our elders, and his son hitting a pinata. In addition to comments on their 20 year history and Mindful Dementia Care, Luke thanked the care partners for their loving work sharing that "you are the heartbeat of the company". Also, Martha performed her very special award winning song "Fade Away", written about her mother-in-law Sylvia who lives in our Sierra Vista home. 
The party was filled with love, laughter, live music, and even a pinata filled with candy! 
Everyone enjoyed homemade appetizers that were prepared and planned by our lovely caregivers, staff, and Executive Directors. 
Ruth Dennis read a moving passage from her book. To get your own copy of Mindful Dementia Care, click the button below.

Vista Hermosa & Sierra Vista aren't only homes to our elders, but also home to many unique pets! Along with our turtles, chickens, and birds, we are also home to a few rambunctious goats and a very sweet dog. These pets bring lots of joy and excitement to each home and give the elders a sense of responsibility as they care for the pets each day.

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.

Alfred celebrated his 94 years young birthday with pizza, family, friends and dancing.  Alfred is always there to share a smile, dance to good music and make everyone feel welcome.  His daughters Dani and Tracy both inherited his warm personality and generous spirit, surprising our Vista Hermosa elders with pizzas and cake.  This was served with Hermosa’s homemade horchata.  Happy 94th Birthday, Alfred!

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.

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!

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.   

Thank You to; Carolyn and Ellen Benson for donating art books, photo books and a great selection of novels to our new library.  These gently loved books are a beautiful way to spend a lazy summer afternoon.

Thank You to ; Bettina Milliken and Santa Fe Clown Care Group for donating inspirational books but also for nearly 20 years of bringing laughter, music and joy to elders in the City Different!  You have touched the lives of so many and we at Vista Hermosa are proud of the work you do!

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.