Greetings From Boulder Creek

Greetings from Boulder Creek
I am officially back from maternity leave. I would like to thank everyone for all of
the kind words and the baby shower for my daughter Ella Mae. I feel so blessed to
be a part of the Boulder family. Everyone is so wonderful and I am excited to be
back to work.
November was a busy month with Thanksgiving. I cant believe its December, Christmas and New Years
are right around the corner. We look forward to having carolers come visit, the Lyon County Museum
come, Leo from YMCA comes twice a week for exercise, Cowboy Jim will be visiting us, and many other
fun daily activities.
We welcome visitors and volunteers every day. Every Sunday from 2:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., we will have family time to visit and play games with residents. On the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 10:45 a.m., we will
have Catholic Mass please feel free to join us.
If you would like more information on the building, volunteering or a tour of Boulder Creek, please contact
Jamie at 507-929-1234 or Jamie@boulder-creek.org.
Holidays and Alzheimers Families
Familiarize others with the situation
The holidays are full of emotions, so it can help to let guests know what to expect before they arrive. If the
person is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, relatives and friends might not notice any changes. But the person with dementia may have trouble following conversation or tend to repeat him- or herself. Family can
help with communication by being patient, not interrupting or correcting, and giving the person time to finish his or her thoughts.
If the person is in the middle or late stages of Alzheimer's, there may be significant changes in cognitive
abilities since the last time an out-of-town friend or relative has visited. These changes can be hard to accept. Make sure visitors understand that changes in behavior and memory are caused by the disease and not
the person.
You may find this easier to share changes in a letter or email that can be sent to multiple recipients. Here
are some examples:
"I'm writing to let you know how things are going at our house. While we're looking forward to
your visit, we thought it might be helpful if you understood our current situation before you arrive.
You may notice that ___ has changed since you last saw him/her. Among the changes you may notice are ___.
"Please understand that ___ may not remember who you are and may confuse you with someone
else. Please don't feel offended by this. He/she appreciates your being with us and so do I."
For more ideas on how to let others know about changes in your loved one, join ALZConnected, our online
support community where caregivers like you share tips on what has worked for them.
Adjust expectations
Call a meeting to discuss upcoming plans.

The stress of caregiving responsibilities layered with holiday traditions can take a toll. Invite family and friends to a face-to-face meeting, or if geography is an obstacle, set up a telephone conference call. Make sure everyone understands your caregiving situation and has realistic expectations about what you can do. Be honest about any limitations or needs, such as keeping a daily
routine.
Be good to yourself.
Give yourself permission to do only what you can reasonably manage. If you've always invited
15 to 20 people to your home, consider paring it down to a few guests for a simple meal. Let others contribute. Have a potluck dinner or ask them to host at their home. You also may want to
consider breaking large gatherings up into smaller visits of two or three people at a time to keep
the person with Alzheimer's and yourself from getting overtired.
Do a variation on a theme.
If evening confusion and agitation are a problem, consider changing a holiday dinner into a holiday lunch or brunch. If you do keep the celebration at night, keep the room well-lit and try to
avoid any known triggers.
Involve the person with dementia
Build on past traditions and memories.

Focus on activities that are meaningful to the person with dementia. Your family member may
find comfort in singing old holiday songs or looking through old photo albums.
Involve the person in holiday preparation.

As the person's abilities allow, invite him or her to help you prepare food, wrap packages, help
decorate or set the table. This could be as simple as having the person measure an ingredient or
hand decorations to you as you put them up. (Be careful with decoration choices. Blinking lights
may confuse or scare a person with dementia, and decorations that look like food could be mistaken as edible.)
Maintain a normal routine.

Sticking to the person's normal routine will help keep the holidays from becoming disruptive or
confusing. Plan time for breaks and rest.
When the person lives in a care facility: A holiday is still a holiday whether it is celebrated at home
or at a care facility. Here are some ways to celebrate together:
Consider joining your loved one in any facility-planned holiday activities
Bring a favorite holiday food to share
Sing holiday songs and ask if other residents can join in
Read a favorite holiday story or poem out loud
Have a wonderful December and Merry Christmas,

Jamie Lanners, Boulder Creek Housing Manager
Reference: Alzheimers Association (2014). Holidays and

Alzheimers families. Retrieved from: http://www.alz.org/
care/alzheimers-dementia-holidays.asp
Special Meals at The

Summit
Build Your Own Omelet Tuesday, December 2nd 7:00AM8:30AM- Tasty Omelets with your favorite
fixings. This extra special morning meal includes wonderful food
& a door prize (you
must eat & attend to be
eligible for the prize).
Boulder Christmas
Feast Wednesday, December 17th 11:30AM
-12:30PM-Celebrate
the tradition of Christmas with our Boulder
family! The meal will
be free to all tenants as
our gift to you from
Boulder Estates. *This
special meal is for tenants and staff only. No
guests today. Please
make reservations at
the Summit by noon December 15th
Which Fork Should I Use?

Family gatherings tend to bring out the best in all of us. Then again,
sometimes they bring out our worst. As we come together over the
holiday season and celebrate with family, friends and neighbors I want
to share a wonderful quote from America's author on etiquette: Emily
Post. She got me thinking when she said. Manners are a sensitive
awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you
have good manners, no matter what fork you use. I love this spirit of
hospitality, of understanding and such grace. What a wonderful balance
and excellent perspective. One of my favorite writers, H. Jackson
Brown, Jr., said this about coping with others: Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners.
And that's what life is all about...navigating how we connect with and
relate to those around us.
Mulling over these quotes turned my mind towards other well known
colloquialisms about how to get along in this world. Most of these will
sound familiar because, most likely, you first heard them from your
mom and your kids heard them from you...
Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at
all. AND...If I want your opinion I'll ask for it!
Listen more than you speak.
Call *200 or *145 to

make reservations.
Think before you speak.
Life is not fair.
Be respectful.
Christmas Dinner
Thursday, December
25th 11:30AM12:30PM
Breakfast, lunch, and
supper are available as
usual. Enjoy a traditional Christmas feast
at lunchtime. Expecting
guests? Please make
reservations at the Summit by noon December
23rd Call *200 or *145
to make reservations.
Others come first.
Shouldn't you know better?
When I was your age...
Clean up after yourself!
Did you flush?
Don't wear out your welcome.
And my favorite...You'll understand when you're older!
Finally, I leave you this month with yet another perspective on good
manners from an unknown author: Treat everyone with politeness,
even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are. Enjoy your family, friends and neighbors this season.
Count your blessings and remember what your mother told you...Use
Your Manners! Tidings of grace, happiness, and many fond memories...Todd
Jesus in
A manger.
He was sent to show
Gods love for us that we would
Know the gifts of forgiveness, peace
Joy, happiness, contentment and acceptance.
Because of Gods gift, we can share with others our
Gratitude, thankfulness and appreciation to God, our family and
Friends.
It is this time of year when we stop the busyness, look around and realize what we have. We look at
the manger scene and remember the greatest gift of all! We want to give gifts to show our love and
appreciation to those who are in our lives or touched our lives in some way. This holiday season we
want to tell you, the tenants and staff of Boulder Estates and Boulder Creek how much we appreciate
each of you.
Tenants of Boulder Estates and Boulder Creek: Thank you for bringing smiles and happiness to our
days. You make the days go quickly and we enjoy and learn so much from you. We hope we will go
through life as gracefully as each of you do.
Tenant Services, Sue and Casi: Thank you for your creativity! You amaze us with the events you plan
and the joy it brings to those who live here.
Dining Services, Jessica, Todd, Margaret, Lu and all the staff: You make it difficult to maintain a low
calorie diet with all the great food you cook and serve. In the last 3 years we have seen your department grow into a fine tuned machine! The food is great and it is fun to see your creativity!
Housekeeping Services: Crystal, Jessie, Deb and Beverly: Thank you for keeping the building looking
nice and clean and for helping our tenants in those little things that dont fall under housekeeping.
Maintenance, Ken, Jason, Riley: Thanks for fixing what is broken, taking out the old and putting in
the new; for keeping our lawns looking nice and clearing the snow on the coldest of days, we appreciate the extra hours you have to put in to make sure its all up and running. Thanks for answering
our calls when there is an alarm going off or water coming from unknown places and other building
mysteries.
Administration: Jim and Georgette: Thanks for being everything in between for our staff and the
tenants. We appreciate your helpful attitude and willingness to be the jack of all trades and all you
can to make sure things run smoothly. Thanks for the listening ear, helpful hands and words of encouragement.
We couldnt do what we do, without each of you. Thank you and have a wonderful and blessed
Christmas!
~ From Tammy and all the Stepping Stone Staff.

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Call a meeting to discuss upcoming plans.

Involve the person with dementia

Build on past traditions and memories.

Involve the person in holiday preparation.

Maintain a normal routine.

Consider joining your loved one in any facility-planned holiday activities

Bring a favorite holiday food to share

Sing holiday songs and ask if other residents can join in

Read a favorite holiday story or poem out loud

Have a wonderful December and Merry Christmas,

Reference: Alzheimers Association (2014). Holidays and

Special Meals at The

Which Fork Should I Use?

Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

Listen more than you speak.

Call *200 or *145 to

Think before you speak.

Life is not fair.

Others come first.

Shouldn't you know better?

When I was your age...

Clean up after yourself!

Did you flush?

Don't wear out your welcome.

And my favorite...You'll understand when you're older!

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Call 200 or 145 to