It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

The turkey has been eaten and the leaves are beginning to fall which only means one thing, the Christmas season is now upon us! The day after Thanksgiving our BEAUTIFUL fully flocked Douglas fir by Gray's Garden Center, a local nursery here in town. The smell of the tree has since since the lobby and  puts a smile on every one's face as the walk by. Our maintenance man, Terry, did an amazing job spreading Christmas cheer with all of the decorations he put up for us!



Placing the Angel on top!



Beautiful!

One resident, Marlene, has already set up here tree in the hallway by her apartment! It is specially decorated with cats and chairs. Cats, because she LOVES cats and aside from owning two of her own she has many cross stitch pictures, clothing and art work to show her love. The chairs represent a group of friends which Marlene has had for many many years. Each time they get together the 7 of them exchange chair ornaments which now hang on her tree to reminder her of her friends and the memories they share!



Marlene showing off her beautiful tree!



 

Bean Bag Base Ball: Staff VS Residents

Today marked a day in history at Garden Way. We had our quarterly competition where the residents take on the staff in our most loved activity, bean bag baseball. Residents were up to bat first and were off to a good start as they put up some big points on the board. The staff continued the point scoring and pulled into the lead slightly. The game remained competitive, but most importantly remained FUN! There were numerous, jokes, laughs and home runs as the game continued on!It was neck and neck til the end of the game, where the staff took the lead and was able to hold it til the end of the game! The score at the end of the game was Residents 16, Staff 19! The residents are already talking about strategies to beat the staff in our next showdown!

The staff (from left to right Chelsea, Brenda, Jeffrey, Sierra, Laurel)

The residents: (from left to right) Jody, Kathryn, Virgina, Bill, Ruth, Larry, Marge, Rene

Assistant Manager Jeffrey hits yet another home run!

Jody, warming up before the game!

Our very own Babe Ruth!

House keeper Sierra plays for the staff!

A beanbag thrown by a resident hangs on the edge of a homerun!

Larry the "3rd base king" getting ready to throw!

The final score

Opperation Christmas Child

Operation Christmas Child is a global Christmas gift exchange project operated by Samaritan's Purse. Each November it opens thousands of locations, typically at churches or schools, to collect shoe boxes filled with toys, school supplies, personal items, and other gifts. These boxes are then distributed as Christmas gifts for children who do not typically receive gifts. From 1993 through 2008, some 69 million gift boxes have been handed out in more than 130 countries.


A group of ladies at Garden Way gathered together to collect items, place them in boxes and send them to children all around the world. We gathered small toys such as balls, coloring books, crayons, jump ropes, dolls, toy trucks, small candies as well as hygiene items and then packaged them into boxes. Marlene then beautifully wrapped each box and placed Christmas cards inside.  We took them to the distribution center where they will reach kids all over the world and be able to enjoy the wonderful joy of Christmas!

SLAP HAPPY DRUMS

Yesterday Connor from Slap Happy Drums came to play a concert for our residents. But it was definitely like no concert we had ever seen before! Connor started out playing a variety of drums for our residents and then handed out drums and allowed them to play with him! He taught the residents some tips and tricks to make the instruments sound the best the can! It was enjoyable for everyone to not only hear the music, but to be able to take part in it as well!

Happy Birthday Garden Way!

Today marks the one year mark from when we opened our doors! And yesterday we made sure to party in style! We had our first annual dessert extravaganza and open house! Each floor of the building was layered with fancy pies, cakes, tarts, cheesecake, popcorn, veggie wraps, fresh fruit, root beer floats and even a chocolate fountian!! We also had a resident art show in which our residents displayed their beautiful artwork.

 Talk about YUMMY!! :)

We had a wonderful time showing off our beautiful apartments and friendly residents and staff!

High Tea

On Sunday, the ladies at Garden Way got dressed in their most elegant dresses, hats and gloves for the Garden Way High Tea. The soft harp music by local musician Rachel Miller filled the air as the ladies enjoyed the beautiful melodies, delicious food and great conversation.

Jody showing off the raffle prize she won!

Mckenzie and Paula setting up for the tea

Pretty Hats

Friends, Food and great conversation

Betty Admires the beautiful Pot

Virgina enjoys her Russian Tea Cake

Harpist, Rachel Miller

Even in Oregon we can have a little SUNSHINE!

Meet resident Jo Collins and her parakeet SUNSHINE. After our first pet day Jo realized that she wanted to get an animal, someone to look after and to keep her company. After looking at various animals Jo decided to invest in a parakeet and found Sunshine. Although Sunshine appears like another bird, he definitely is not! Sunshine can often be seen in his carrier either in the arms of Jo or in the front basket of her motorized scooter. Sunshine is also an artist, taking Styrofoam cups and chipping away at the edges, creating unique designs! Wednesday in the lobby Jo decided to display all of her art in the lobby so all who passed by could see what amazing things her bird can do!

We are filling up fast!

Garden Way is filling up fast and we have had countless move-ins over the past few months! We have developed a welcoming committee, comprised of residents who have a desire to meet and get to know our new residents! Each month we have a dinner with our new residents and the welcome committee in our very special private dining room. It is an opportunity for our resident to find out what interests our newest residents have and in what activities, clubs or events they would most likely enjoy.

On Tuesday night we had our first dinner and Annie, Rob, Les and Bernice (and their son Peter too!)joined us as they were welcomed by Jeri, Marlene, Jody and Kathleen! They enjoyed a wonderful meal in the private dining room and even a hand delivered dessert made special for them from Executive Chef Martin.

Monster Mash, Ballroom Bash!

Yesterday was the debut of our Monster Mash, Ballroom Bash! We invited residents and their family and friends to join us in celebrating Halloween. Residents and guests wore a variety of costumes including witches, kittens, angels, flappers, hippies, ghosts and even King Kong! Local musician Carl Duvuhl played music as we danced the afternoon away. We then had a costume contest for the scariest, funniest, most creative and least likely to recognize. Everyone had a great time eating cookies and candies, conversing with friends and celebrating the day!

Here are just some of the fun moments that occured.

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