Our Ammon Lily

Many of you know that we were not given the opportunity to bury our baby. So on days when we are missing him or our heart aches to hold him we don't really have a place of our own to go and feel near him or remember him. 5 years ago when we moved into our house we planted a tree in honor of him. It was our Ammon tree. One day I am hoping to have an Ammon garden, a peaceful little slice of heaven in our backyard. A few year or two after we planted our tree we found a white lily and I knew that needed to be part of our growing "Ammon" garden. Shortly after we rented our house out and moved. I took my Ammon lily with me. Then before moving back to our home (after the renters moved out) I decided that I would plant my Ammon lily at my parents house. Grandparents need a place to go as well or something in their possession to remember him.


 One day after work, I drove over to my mom's to pick up my girls and there was our Ammon lily blooming, it was bigger than both of my hands put together. It was the largest bloom I had ever seen from this little plant, in fact my mom had to tie it up so it wouldn't fall over. It was like my little boy was sending me hugs and kisses from Heaven, as if he were saying I am watching over you Mom, I love you! I took pictures so I could always look back and remember this moment. I am so glad that my little Ammon lily is being watched over and cared for by my sweet parents and that they have a little slice of pure sweet Heaven in their garden too.

Made by You...Blankets

These blankets were made by June Simmons. I hope she doesn't mind that I tag her here. She made two of the white blankets and three of the flannel blue. These blankets are just darling. My 9 year old put their hand and i-pod touch next to the blankets so you can see how small they are. This adorable blanket was made by my little sister's friend, Stephanie, who is now on a mission for the LDS church. I made three of these little dinosaur blankets. They were very easy to make and they are minkie material so they are super soft. I am so excited to have these blankets finished. Now to bag them and get them ready for the hospital.


 I am constantly in awe at the talent people have and their generosity in donating blankets to us. It really helps. Even just one blanket makes such a huge difference. My dear sweet aunt has been experiencing some medical issues and in all of her pain and treatment she has been diligently making blankets. How incredible the human spirit is. I am so blessed to be able to watch, be part of and hear all the amazing stories that have come from this project. The blankets are trickling in and starting to add up. Thank you for all of your help and donations. One reader recently e-mailed me and asked if she could just donate material, since she doesn't know how to sew. The answer is Yes. We have many helping hands who can take the material and make blankets. We will have more pictures coming soon.

One Little Blanket (Story)

I love to hear other people's experiences and what they are doing or how they found us and so on. I think that sharing helps with the healing. So I have a story for you today. I am a hairstylist and work in a salon part time. While at work a few weeks back, a woman came in to get her hair cut. She was a walk-in and was in a little bit of a hurry and I was lucky enough to have her sit in my chair. She needed her hair trimmed and styled and had somewhere to be and she just couldn't manage it. I could tell she was a little distressed. So I asked a few questions about her hair and then a few general "shoot the breeze" questions (ie: Are you from around here? Do you have any kids? blah blah blah) On my first question she answered she was not from around here but she was visiting her daughter. It didn't take any further questions and the sweet (in a hurry) woman opened the flood gates and told all. Her daughter was living here in Utah while her husband was working and going to school. She was pregnant with her second baby and things had not gone so well. The daughter had been in the hospital for over a week when they finally induced labor. You see her baby had died and she was only 25 weeks along. She continued to tell me how wonderful the staff at the hospital was and how delicately they handled the situation. Then she started to tell me about her little grandbaby and how they were allowed to hold the baby and how a professional photographer came in to take pictures for her daughter's family. The next thing she said made me stop dead in my tracks. She said that the hospital gave them a blanket for their baby and that it was handmade and donated by women in the community who have been through the same kind of loss. It was then that I asked her what hospital her daughter delivered at. Guess what... it was one of the hospitals we have taken blankets too. So I told her what we do and that this hospital was one we have donated too. She pulled out her phone and showed me a picture of the blanket and I about died! It was one of our blankets. This sweet woman was getting ready to go to the graveside service of her precious little grandchild, that is why she was in a hurry. But I will never forget the look on her face and the tears of gratitude in her eyes. To know that someone has been helped and hopefully felt the love of these little blankets was so exciting. This woman told me to keep making blankets and to keep sending them to hospitals because they are greatly appreciated, even from the grandmothers of these tiny precious Angels. I love to hear stories and to receive feedback from others. I am so excited that these blankets are making a difference. I am sad that we need to use them but I am grateful for the inspiration that lead me to Angie and Neal's website and for them helping us to get started with the blankets project too. If you have a story you would like to share, or know of someone who wouldn't mind sharing their story, e-mail us at jjhaag5@yahoo.com and put "operation blanket drop" in the subject line. We would love to have other's stories posted here and we can keep names confidential if you like as well. Love: Jess and Joleen

Army Hospital

I have the most amazing clients and friends. I have a dear sweet client at work who is also an amazing family friend. She has several daughters, one whose husband is currently stationed in Fort Hood. He also happens to work at the hospital there and she is an RN. Miracles never cease my friends. This week I have been in contact with this woman and even though we are just in the beginning phases of things I am extremely hopeful that we will be able to take blankets to the army hospitals. So with that awesome news, anyone who is wondering if we still need blankets the answer is yes! You can always e-mail me for more info at jjhaag5@yahoo.com and in the subject line put "operation blanket drop" so that I won't accidentally delete it. I will post more of the story later. These next few weeks are super busy for us but I will be posting lots of stories coming up. And keep those blankets rolling in!!

Still Going

I don't have pictures just yet, BUT I am making blankets again this year! So anyone who would like to make blankets (or you can buy blankets if you don't make them) and would like to donate the blankets to us we'd love to have them and deliver them to a number of different places. We have also had people donate fabric and supplies to us and we have made blankets for them because they don't know how to sew. We'd be happy to take whatever help we can get. Contact us and we will let you know how to get started. Our e-mail is jjhaag5@yahoo.com and just make sure you put "blankets" or "operation blanket drop" in the heading or we may not get your e-mail!! Love to all who have helped and who are helping us with this project!! Love, Jess and Joleen

Many Different Blankets

On my day off I went through the boxes of blankets and made sure they all had sizes labeled on the outside of the bags. These wonderful blankets came from Jan. If you look into past posts there are several on Jan and her group. Crocheted blankets and even a little tiny outfit for demise babies. These are just a few of the blankets my Grandma, Mom and Aunt have sewn around. Another Aunt and Cousin donated the fabric for the blankets. I'd say names but they might get mad at me. I have been working on some blankets this year and even making different ones than I have made in the past. I am so excited to see where these blankets will end up this year.

Blankets to Angie & Neal

A few weeks ago I talked to Angie, my dear friend who got us started with Operation Blanket Drop. They are called Calling All Angels and they gather and deliver blankets to hospitals just like we do. Last year we had so many blankets come in we haven't been able to deliver them all yet. When Angie told me that she is settled in after her move and gathering blankets this year I knew the last of the blankets needed to go to her. There were 517 blankets. Angie's sister met us in Salt Lake City during Conference weekend and picked up the blankets. She is taking them up to Angie soon. I am so excited that these last few blankets will soon have a home and hopefully be healing hearts and giving hope.

Blankets to Washington

We are in still doing Operation Blanket Drop. We got started doing this when we found the blog of Neal and Angie Guymon with Calling All Angels. We are still collecting blankets and taking them to hospitals. If this is your first time visiting our blog you may want to go back to the first posts and it'll catch you up just a little. Last year we had a Relief Society group make blankets for us as a huge project and an Eagle Scout who did his Eagle Project making and donating blankets to us. We had so many blankets that we were able to donate some to a few area hospitals who needed more and then Jess (my hubby) and I have been taking them to other hospitals out of state. Neal and Angie have settled into an area in Washington state and are getting ready to donate blankets up there in honor of their baby's (Jayden) birthday. So I broke out our boxes from the remaining blankets and sorted them and packed them up for Angie's sister to pick up since she was down here in Utah for Conference weekend. We sent 517 blankets up to Angie. I was so excited. Not just to be rid of 5 boxes of blanket (even though we love them; their purpose is to be in hospitals) but to also get us kick started and excited for our blanket drop we will hopefully do this year. So what did I do??? I went shopping! I bought a bunch of new material for blankets and I found some boxes of unfinished blankets to work on. I AM SO EXCITED to get these blankets ready to go. I have been on my favorite website (Pinterest) pinning ideas for blankets. I also have a board called Operation Blanket Drop that is where I pin blanket ideas, pictures of angel statues and just anything that inspires and helps me out with this area of my life. So I now have empty boxes that I need to fill up with blankets again and a vacation to plan so I can deliver blankets to hospitals who want the blankets. I also learned about this super cool tool called a skip stitch and I am searching the web to find one since most fabric stores do not carry them anymore.

Spring Valley Hospital, Las Vegas

Back in November Jess and I went to a Helicopter Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. While Jess was busy with his conference and classes took blankets to several Vegas Hospitals. If you are new to our site you may want to scroll down and read older posts on what we do. It was a lot of fun to deliver these blankets to these hospitals and talk a little bit to their staff. One Hospital, Spring Valley, asked me quite a few questions and wanted to hear my personal story. While I will never get over the loss of my baby, it helps to share with others and help others through such a difficult time. Last week I came home from work to find a large envelope on the kitchen counter. As we opened it and saw what was inside I was completely overcome with gratitude and love. The sweet nurses at this hospital all signed a Thank You card for us and then gave us a small memory book and teeny tiny gold bracelet for our Ammon. There is only one other person who has given us anything for our baby. It is a small blue and white beaded bracelet from a friend of mine who is a nurse and used to go to the gym with me. While visiting this hospital one of the nurses asked me if I had a memory box for our son and I said no. I guess it is time to start one. Thank you so much Spring Valley for making my day, week and even my month! And finally with Valentine's Day this last week we love to make sure that our children know that we love them and we do little things and leave little notes for them and all the normal Valentine stuff. But I was feeling kind of bad that we don't really have a place to leave my Ammon little love notes. We did plant a tree in our back yard which had to be transplanted to the front yard this last fall. But it's wet and cold outside (freezing) and I didn't want to tie hearts on the tree to have them just get soaked off. Jess and I have wanted to have an Ammon garden with a park bench dedicated to him and trees and flowers in part of our yard. I think this is going to be our project for this year. And when we move, we can take the bench and make another garden so we will always have a place to honor him. I also read a Conference Talk on Valentine's Day that was from this past October's Saturday morning session. I usually work Saturdays so I don't get to hear the talks but I love to read them in the Ensign or catch them on-demand. The talk was given by Elder Shane M. Bowen and is titled "Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also". (If you'd like to read this talk you can find it on lds.org and search Conference Talks or even the title of the talk.) Elder Bowen's talk was just what I needed to hear/read that day. I am so grateful for eternal families and a loving Heavenly Father who knows just what I need, when I need it. Oh, one more thing; we are still taking blankets and making blankets and delivering them to hospitals. If you want to join us you can contact us at jjhaag5@yahoo.com and in the subject heading put Operation Blanket Drop, that way we don't accidentally delete your message. Love: Jess and Joleen Haag