Betsy from the West Des Moines library came to visit us today. She brings great energy and positive vibes when she’s here. Today’s theme was Thanksgiving , of course!, as you can tell by the crazy hat she’s wearing! We sang songs, she told us a “draw and tell" story which was about a farmer who lost his turkey.

What a fun weekend, that carried over into Monday, we had at Bickford! Manicures, color art, UNO, Wheel of Fortune, and some card sorting! Whew busy on these rainy days for sure!

Playing Gin Rummy Sometimes at the end of the day a resident stops you and asks if you’ll play a card game with them. What do you do, you ask? Well of course you roll up your sleeves and get down to business strategizing how to win a few hands of Gin Rummy! Mr. John is the master player and Candy feels pretty lucky when she can win a few hands. It was a perfect way to unwind on this wet and dreary day. Thanks, John, you may have won this round, 5 to 4, but I’ll get you next time!

Honoring Our Veterans with a Special Breakfast at Hy-Vee Today, we had the privilege of honoring our veterans with a special outing to Hy-Vee for breakfast. It was a wonderful opportunity to recognize the service and sacrifices they made for our country. The atmosphere was warm and filled with gratitude as our veterans enjoyed a delicious meal, surrounded by friends and community members who appreciate their dedication. To add a personal touch to the celebration, we also presented each veteran with a “Thank You for Your Service” award. These awards were given to express our deep appreciation for their bravery and commitment. The smiles on their faces as they read the award were priceless, a small but meaningful way to show our thanks. It was truly a heartwarming morning, and we are grateful to Hy-Vee for hosting us and helping us celebrate these amazing individuals. It’s important to take the time to recognize the heroes among us, and today was a beautiful reminder of the strength and resilience of our veterans. Thank you to John, Herb, Frank B, Frank W, Tim, Doug, Donna, Richard, Cliff, Laverne, and our Happiness Coordinator, Candy, and to all who served!

Come FALL in love with Bickford of west Des Moines! Right now is a perfect time to get your loved one into our cozy community before the snow and holiday season! Call Brittany our family advocate to schedule your tour today! 515-400-3321

Big Word, Little Words: A Thanksgiving Challenge! Ever tried squeezing every little word possible out of a single big one? That’s what we did with “Thanksgiving!” We turned this holiday word into a fun, mind-bending game: Big Word, little words. The goal? See how many smaller words we could find just using the letters in “Thanksgiving.” We came up with 100 words! Some of our finds? Well, a few were repeats with a clever twist—like adding an “S” to create new words! Words like “thank,” “sing,” “giving,” and “ant” were just the beginning. Once we got going, it felt like the list could go on forever. How many can you find? Give it a try, and see if you can beat our 100! We’ll give you our answers in the comments.

Mr Doug played a game of Mexican Train Dominoes today. The rules were a little different than how it’s normally played but he enjoyed it more his way! Sometimes you just gotta shake things up sometimes! Doug’s way was more fun!

Tom Hofer came by today to sing some oldies but goodies, from Glen Campbell to Nancy Sinatra. It’s always a toe tapping time! We caught a few of us singing along.

What a day we had today celebrating Halloween! We enjoyed the staff and visitors who dressed up. Thank you! The food was awesome and thanks to the Kitchen team, our Activity team, and our residents for putting in a lot of thought and efforts to make it a success. We reminisced about by-gone Halloweens, what we dressed up as (costumes from the past), and our favorite things to get in our treat bags. Toothbrushes were the worse! Hobos were common outfits, and we used pillow cases as bags!