Soulstice Exercise Program

We’ve been having so much fun playing our yard games lately that we’ve decided to start an actual exercise program here at Serenity. Soulstice is an exercise program that involves doing simple exercises all while sitting in a chair. Participants move their arms in legs in simple exercises to help them gain and build muscles. We also do dances and play games. With more strength, we can do so much!

Soulstice participants meet three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 4-4:30 p.m. in the formal dining room at Serenity. Once it starts getting nicer outside we hope to meet outdoors on occasion!

Take a look at these photos of our first meeting! Pictured above is Orval as he stretches his arms before playing one of our many games; and to the right is Arlene who is enjoying the new program (Bonnie is to the left in the background)!

Exercise Group

We all know the importance of exercise, and we aren’t the kind of people to miss out on healthy physical activity. This afternoon a few of us gathered in the dining room to have a little fun with a beach ball – and we soon found out that some of us are regular soccer players! It was a blast to just kick the ball back and forth to each other and have a few good laughs in the process.

Pictured above is Henrietta, who put quite a bit of force on that ball! To the right is Mary who would definitely be our forward if we had a Serenity soccer team!

Jamaican Passport Meal

Yah, Mon! We’re in Jamaica! This afternoon we got a taste of Jamaican culture with our Jamaican Passport Meal; but we’ve been getting ready for the festivities this whole week. On Monday we had a blast tie-dying t-shirts that we all wore for the first time today. These were all so colorful and it was fun to finally see how all of our shirts had turned out! And we even had more fun with Jamaican themed crafts yesterday when we made Jamaican Bracelets. Making these taught us that patience really is a virtue; but it was a ton of fun putting them together. Today was the perfect time to show off all our Jamaican creations, both the t-shirts and bracelets; and it was really exciting!

To begin the party this afternoon we all held silly props in front of our faces and took funny pictures. All of these photos of our funny faces are now taped on our doors so that all our visitors can see the fun we had. It was a blast to see how funny we all looked, and now we can remember it every time we go out our doors!

After our photo shoot we started eating our summer-themed Jamaican Passport Meal. We began with a traditional appetizer called Jamaican Shrimp and continued the meal with white rice cooked with coconut milk and Jamaican Red Stripe Chicken as the main course. For dessert we all tried Fried Ripe Plantains which were very interesting. By the time we were done eating we discovered that Jamaicans eat quite well!

Above is a picture of Genevieve Sunde and Mary Joan Grubb with their silly facial props. To the left is a photo of Henrietta Van Dyke modeling her Jamaican Bracelet and to the right is a picture of Alfred Baumgartner sporting his huge sunglasses!

A Game of Whist, Anyone?

Finding a few good friends, getting together and simply playing an exciting card game can be a lot of fun. And this is precisely what we did this morning! Hubert Asplin, Bonnie Bratholt, Leona Jereszek and Arlene Tangen all gathered around a card table at about 10:00am this morning to play a few games of Whist. Aside from the amusement of the game, it was also nice to get out, chat with old friends and make new ones. And they sure had a lot of fun!

If you’ve never played Whist and would like to learn, here are some of the basic rules:

First of all, Whist requires four players which then make two teams of pairs. The dealer deals a standard deck of 52 cards, starting with the player to the dealer’s immediate left. The last card dealt that belongs to the dealer is flipped over and displays the suit that is trumps for that round. This card remains face up until it is the dealer’s turn to play the first trick. Now the game begins! The player to the dealer’s immediate left starts the first trick and any card may be led. The other players then lay tricks in clockwise order. The cards played should be of the same suit and the highest trump wins the trick (with Aces being high). If a player doesn’t have any of the same suit, any card may be laid. Once all 13 cards of the suit have been laid, the team that won more tricks wins one point for every trick it won in excess of six; the winner of that round deals the following round. The partnership that reaches five points first wins the game. It’s that simple!

Take a peek above at the group shot of the whole gang; Arlene (dealer), Hubert, Bonnie and Leona (in clockwise order)!

A Gorgeous Afternoon

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” All of us here at Serenity had a lot of fun making (and eating) our very own homemade ice cream today. After we were done eating lunch, some of us decided it was the perfect time to go outside and see what the weather was like. And we were followed by all the staff who had lots of fun activities for us!

We started the afternoon by making homemade ice cream. It was really fun! First we filled a one gallon Ziplock bag half full with ice cubes and added at least six tablespoons of rock salt. In another sandwich sized Ziplock bag we mixed ½ cup Half & Half, ¼ teaspoon vanilla and one tablespoon sugar. We then placed the smaller bag inside the larger one and shook the bag until our mixture became ice cream. It was a lot of fun and tasted great!

After we were done making ice cream we weren’t given much of a break before we began tie-dying t-shirts. We all began by drawing neat designs or writing our names on the shirts. Sometimes it took a while to think of the perfect designs to draw! Afterwards we twisted the shirts and tied rubber bands all over them so that once they were dyed there would be some really nifty designs left on them. Then we picked out our favorite colors that we wanted to use on our shirts and got to the messy part and started dying the shirts. It was fun to just look around at all the different colors our friends were using! We then let the dye sit for a few hours; and tomorrow we’ll get our freshly washed shirts back in time to wear them for our Jamaican night on Friday.

When we were finally finished with the exciting activities it was just nice to sit back and take it easy. After all, it’s summer!

To get a glimpse of all the fun we had take a look at the pictures from this afternoon! The top photo is a group shot of a few of the ladies who enjoyed making the homemade ice cream (from left to right: Muriel, Henrietta, Claryce, Cleo and Lois). To the left is Bonnie with her freshly tie-dyed shirt; and to the right is Abbie who is having a blast trying to find the perfect colors to dye her shirt.

A Day For The Dogs

Josh Billings once suggested, “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” With this in mind, today we decided it was about time to show a little appreciation to the canines in our lives. We spent a portion of the afternoon making gourmet dog treats for our beloved dogs. It was fun for all of us to get our hands dirty by mixing the dough, rolling it out and cutting fun shapes out of it (such as dog bones)! We finally baked these treats and packed them up to give to our favorite dogs.

Aside from the fun gourmet dog treats, Hubert even made puppy cakes. These are cupcakes made especially for dogs! Hubert mixed apples, cheese, milk and many more healthy ingredients into this fun treat. And since Bentley is Hubert’s favorite dog we can all bet that Bentley will be spoiled in the next few weeks!

To get a glimpse of all the fun we had just take a look at these photos. Pictured above are Gen, Lois, Jodi and Mary who are getting ready to roll out the dough. To the right is Hubert who is creating the ideal puppy cake!

Keeping Sharp

Sometimes finding the right words is difficult for all of us. But if you are Esther Hilger and Muriel Kaercher, searching your brain for the appropriate words can make for an entertaining game. Esther and Muriel have been playing Scrabble together for quite some time now and it’s pretty amazing what creative words they pull out of their heads to rack up the points! And keeping such an active mind is not just child’s play. According to a research study from the Journal of Neuroscience, doing activities such as reading a book or completing a crossword puzzle can stimulate the mind to delay and even possibly prevent the onset of dementia related diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Though previously thought to be a normal part of aging, experts have now declared that cases of extreme memory loss are not part of the normal aging process at all. Therefore, more dementia related diseases are being researched along with Alzheimer’s to find cures for these illnesses. Currently there are some drugs that have had some success in slowing the dementia process, but there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Because of this, it is important for scientists to research other possible methods to combat dementia. This study suggests that if we keep our minds active by fulfilling mind-provoking activities, we could slow or even prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. So even though playing games like Scrabble just keep Esther and Muriel happy, their brains are working hard at leading a healthy life. Just take a look at the two pictured here as they challenge each other’s wits!



(Check out this study at http://www.news-medical.net/news/2007/01/23/21487.aspx)

Here Comes the Sun

It seemed like true summer weather would never visit us here in Dilworth until today! We were blessed with a warm, sunny day which was well enjoyed by all of us here at Serenity. The day was full of outdoor activities such as taking rides on a golf cart to simply enjoying the sunshine on our faces. Needless to say, most of us spent the entire day outdoors. Just look at the fun we had!



Mary Grubb situates herself outside on the patio table with her crayons and coloring books to test her creative skills. The sunshine feels great!







The Ladies watch Daniel O'Donnel outside on a beautiful day!



Abbie Moe & Elaine Anderson sit outside on the swing in the back to enjoy the sunshine.








Richard Anderson & Cleo Havlis take a ride on Serenity's golf cart. Cleo even got to drive!

Marilyn's Marvelous Meal

Marilyn McMaster and her friend, Roni, planned and served a DELICOUS meal today at lunch! On the menu was heart waffles with strawberries & whipped cream, bacon and fruit kabobs.

It was such a hit that the duo are planning another Menu for next month!

BINGO Fun!

The 6th grade class from St. Elizabeth's in Dilworth came over to play BINGO with the ladies of Serenity tonight!