Wenatchee Hospital Delivery

We are still making baby blankets and taking them to hospitals all over the Western United States.  

The last few years since moving to Washington has been a little slow on the blanket front,

but there are still momma's out there needing these blankets so we will continue to make and 

donate as many as possible.  

October 2015-- just over a year ago we delivered blankets to the hospital in Wenatchee.  

We always love drop off day.  It makes our hearts feel whole again even if just for a few moments.  

So keep those blankets coming.  

Comment below if you'd like more info.

Love:  Joleen, Jess and kids!

Still Going...

The last 18 months have been super crazy for our family. 

WE MOVED!

To a different state even.

{Washington}

And we have had to adjust to life here in this new state.  We are living in a crazy little town called Wenatchee.   We really want to be living in the beautiful town of Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula.  But we will take Wenatchee for now.

This has been THE HARDEST move on our family yet.  

The kids left amazing friends and a neighborhood full of kids all their ages.  

{seriously overflowing}

But we are adjusting and "learning" the "ways" of life here.

We thought now that we are settled in and not going anywhere anytime soon, that we should break out the baby blanket fabric and thread and get cracking.

Here are just a few of the little pieces we have been working on. 

I am so excited to take these blankets to the hospitals around the area.  

As always if you'd like to join in, you are welcome to send us blankets.  Email us at jjhaag5@yahoo.com and put "baby blankets" as the subject line and we will send you our address and any other information about the blankets you may need.  You can also scroll back through the posts and find more information as well.

A New Year

Where in the world has more than a year gone?

Jess and I, last February, picked up our family and all our belongs and moved to Washington State.  It has been an incredible year and we love our new home town of Wenatchee.  The area is beautiful, the people are amazing and friendly and life is a lot different than what it was in Utah.  It has taken me almost a year to acclimate to a new state, routine and life.   Now that I am feeling settled and with the New Year upon us I have made a few goals for this year.  One is to start decorating our house (because we are not going anywhere anytime soon) and another is to get back on track with baby blankets!  This year I have decided to have "one little word" to help me remember and define my goals/ things I would like to accomplish this year.  That one little word is "CHOOSE" (you can read more about it on the family blog).  Choose to continue with operation blanket drop.

Now that we are in a new state I would love to start taking blankets to the hospitals here in Washington.  We love to go on adventures as a family (again check out the family blog) and have decided that this year when we go on our adventures we will find hospitals along the way and deliver blankets to them.  So there is not a "due date" for the blankets if you choose to join in with us.  The rules are all still the same and if you don't know how to sew and want to help we have had many people in the past who just send fabric, thread, gallon and quart size ziplock type baggies for the blankets to go in and any materials to help make blankets.  Then I happily make them.  I also have family and friends who help make them as well.  We have also had many people donate their scraps of fabric which help make smaller quilts and blankets.  The blankets are sized from 10"x10" up to crib size 36"x36" and can be made from any fabric or material.  We try to give each hospital a variety of sizes and I try to let you know on the blog, Facebook, Instagram and now twitter (say what? Yep I joined the twitter club too) what sizes we are in need of.

We will be in Utah this spring (we have not finalized dates yet but sometime over Spring Break) and will be happy to pick up blankets then.  You can always drop them off at our mom's houses.  You can mail us blankets or if you are local and not too far away we can pick them up or you can drop them off at our home.  Look below for ways to contact us for drop off locations and mailing addresses.  In years past we have had blankets come to us from all over the United States, from Germany, Australia, Canada and Ireland.  E-mail us a picture of you showcasing your blanket so we can post it here on the blog.  We love hearing your stories and if you are okay with us sharing we post them here on the blog, just let us know if your story is okay to share and if you would like names and locations changed to protect privacy.  We have had many ask if we accept baby beanies and gowns.  We accept and donate to the hospitals what ever we are given.  If you make beanies rather than blankets and want to help out we'd love to have them.

Thank you for helping us help other families to have a little peace or comfort during such a difficult and trying time!  I am excited for this new year and to see what it brings.  And I am excited to see all the blankets you make and donate.  We will be hashtagging with any combination of the following: #babyblankets #operationblanketdrop #choose #stillborn #fetaldemise and #blankets  

Much Love:  Joleen and Jess

Contact info:
e-mail: jjhaag5@yahoo.com please put "operation blanket drop" in the subject line.
Facebook:  Joleen Peery Haag
Instagram:  jjhaag5
Twitter: jjhaag5

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!!