Up do

Simone Rector sported a new hair do' around Serenity this afternoon! Cheers to goofy faces!

Spirit of Christmas

Spreading Christmas cheer, youth from the Dilworth Lutheran Church and St. Elizabeth teamed up with Serenity Assisted Living to collect, sort and pack donations for Operation Christmas Child.
This particular charitable event is the biggest holiday charity event in the world. Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have been packed, shipped and delivered across the globe. People of all ages can be involved while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus Christ.

Boxes brimming with toys, hygiene items, school supplies and more were collected by the very generous parishioners of Dilworth’s local church.
Not only were boxes packed with goodies for children across the world, but each youth and individual wrote a letter to the possible recipient of the box!
After an evening of packing, the boxes were ready to load into Charles Borgen’s truck to be delivered to Triumph Lutheran Church in Moorhead. Charles just happens to be a member of this particular church!
This has truly been a full circle, generational project. Starting at the churches, families of all ages brought in donations. Geriatrics and youth alike, teamed together to pack boxes. Finally, longtime church member makes a delivery of 141 boxes to an organization that returns the gift to thousands of children each year!

Portraits of a Geisha

Tonight at Serenity, there was the smell of Chinese in the air. That's because Danielle Hendrickx (Concordia Intern) planned an oriental theme dinner for the ladies and gentlemen of Serenity.

We all learned a lot about oriental culture; the number 4 is considered unlucky and that the Great Wall of China is over 1,500 feet long!

On the menue this evening was homemade cream cheese wontons, mini egg rolls, pineapple stir fry and sweet walnuts for dessert. Yum!

Taters

Hubert 'Sonny' Asplin took charge in the kitchen this afternoon. Her insisted that he had more experience in peeling potatoes than everyone in the building combined. He wasn't lieing. Hubert was peeling potatoes faster than anyone had ever seen!

Vote!

Abbie Moe sported her "I Voted" sticker this evening for Serenity's Election Party. Everyone competed in Presidential Trivia while dining on patriotic foods.

Concordia intern, Erin Johnson, planned the evening's event which hailed much enjoyment. Claryce Stohle won the trivia game, beating everyone with her knowledge of American History. Way to Go!

Witch Hunt

Elaine Anderson (Administrator) surprised everyone during the lunch hour on Halloween by dressing up as a fun-loving witch! Here she had Carol Thompson in hysterics!

Treats

Arlene Marshall, along with some other ladies at Serenity, joined in the fun of making popcorn balls this afternoon. In purple, blue and green...we have popcorn bottles in so many fun colors for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow!

Thanks ladies for all of your hard work!

It's a....WEREWOLF!

Hubert 'Sonny' Asplin was wandering the hallways of Serenity in his frightening Halloween costume this afternoon. Good thing it's not a full moon!

Children

Elaine Anderson was better known as Mickey Mouse today. She dressed up as everyone's favorite Disney character and had everyone's attention as she was reading a children's story to the "Grandpa's & Grandma's" of Serenity along with the local Head Start group. The kids were excited to see Mickey Mouse. At the end of the story hour, each child had to go up to a different "Grandpa & Grandma" to introduce themselves and tell them what they were going to be for Halloween the next day. Bentley the dog came trotting in halfways through the story however and seemed to get more attention than Mickey Mouse!

Pop...pop...popcorn!

Thursday was a busy day for some of the ladies at Serenity. Bowl after bowl of popcorn was popped in the old-fashioned popcorn maker. Some of it was used to make popcorn balls and the other half was strung by the ladies at Serenity to make popcorn garlands. Some strings were long, others were shorter...but the ladies sure had a blast making the popcorn garlands. Claryce Stohle (Serenity's self-described 'Birdkeeper') suggested hanging the garlands on the trees for the birds to munch on. They turned out great and were hung on the trees all around Serenity!

Ahhh...Choo!

Claryce Stohle is getting her flu shot for the year from Andrea at Cash Wise Pharmacy. No flus this year at Serenity!

Love

Adeline Hartl and Genevieve Sunde hold hands during a little music in the library at Serenity.

Monster Mash

In preparation for Halloween, some of the ladies at Serenity spent the afternoon creating and assembling treat boxes that look like a friendly Frankenstein. Join us for some Halloween Trick-or-Treating next Friday and you will be able to see some more crafts we've been working on!

Oktoberfest!

This evening, one of our interns (Emily Wells) planned an exciting event for the ladies and gentlemen at Serenity. The event was Oktoberfest and we went the whole nine yards! The meal itself was incredible: Ruebens, Beer Cheese Soup, Bratwursts, Sauerkraut, Pumpkin Cake, & more! We tapped our toes to some polka music and enjoyed root beer from our stein glasses.

Happy Birthday, Claryce!

Today, Claryce Stohle tuned another year young! To celebrate, her daughter ordered a beautiful cake and shared it with everyone during coffee hour. Claryce even got to extend her celebrations and started early by going out with friends yesterday! In the picture, Claryce is holding up two cards from her great nephews!

"Age is a matter of mind...and if you don't mind, it doesn't matter!"

~Claryce Stohle

Scrabulous!

Esther Hilger & Muriel Kaercher often spend their afternoons competing for the title of Scrabble Champion. Even Nurse Jodi and Richard (PCA) tried taking on this duo, without much success. If you feel your vocabulary skills are honed, come take on these wonderful ladies for an afternoon at Serenity!

Sunset

A quiet October evening hosted a stunning sunset...BEAUTIFUL!

Music

Music lovers at Serenity had a a lot of entertainment lately. Earlier this week, Nurse Jodi's son, Jeff, came over with his guitar. Little did he know he would have such a large audience! Not only did Jeff play his guitar, but he sang along to the tunes as well!

Today, Rachel Hanson spent an hour playing "Autumn Inspired" piano pieces. She was so talented and had everyone tapping their toes!

Boo!

Hubert Asplin, or better yet known around Serenity as "Sonny," let Leonie Borden (PCA) paint his fingernails! Not only did he sit back while she pampered him, but he let Leonie paint his nails black for Halloween!

New Interns

From Concordia College, Serenity has four new interns in Health Care Administration for the fall semester. They are working on various items and areas around Serenity to gain experience for their futures in Healthcare.

Happy Birthday, Arlene!

Today, September 30th, we rejoiced for Arlene Tangen's 80th birthday at Serenity Assisted Living! We celebrated her beautiful self with a scrumptious birthday cake her daughter brought in, along with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and beets.

Yummy!

When asking Arlene if she was planning on having any cake fights that evening, she replied, "Pies work MUCH better for that!"

"Your Birthday is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'YOU' to the world!"