Skyla Gene Perdash named 2025 Fort Hall New Year’s Rez Baby
The 2025 Fort Hall New Year’s Rez Baby Skyla Gene Perdash, with parents Jessika and Traelee Perdash and brother Nova, receive gifts donated from community members, tribal departments, the Fort Hall Business Council and local businesses, in partnership with the Sho-Ban News.
By BREE BAKER
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — The 2025 Fort Hall New Year’s Rez Baby is Skyla Gene Perdash who is the daughter of Jessika and Traelee Perdash.
She was born on January 2, at 12:39 a.m. at Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho. She was 7 pounds and 7 ounces and 19.5 inches.
Her maternal grandparents are Karri and Jay Deschine and her paternal grandparents are Michelle Perdash and Jeremy Friday. Maternal great-grandparents are Buddy Hugues and the late MarGene Hugues. Paternal great-grandparents are Whitey Jones and the late Arlinda Jones, and Sanford Friday Sr. and Donna Friday.
Skyla’s early arrival came as a surprise to her family as her original due date was January 30. “We didn’t know what to name her” and it took a few days to choose her name. Jessika and Traelee share they had a list of names and Skyla ended up being the name they chose. Skyla’s middle name is Gene, a special name with ties to her family — she was named after her late maternal great-grandmother MarGene Hugues.
Skyla Gene Perdash, born January 2, 2025 at Portneuf Medical Center.
Jessika and Traelee have been married since 2018, the couple now have 3 children together. Skyla has two siblings, sister Sierra L. Perdash who is 4 1/2-years-old and brother Nova J. Perdash who is 2-years-old. Jessika said they love her — they want to hold her and help take care of her, and there’s a lot of kisses on the forehead. Baby’s personality so far as described by her mother is, “Content, she’s very content. Right now, she just eats, sleeps, and poops.” She said, “I’ve seen her smile a few times already, angels are talking to her.”
Jessika said her pregnancy wasn’t the easiest, saying “not going to lie, it was hard.” When pregnant with her daughter, she got very sick, a lot of nausea and back pain. “I want to say it’s beautiful, I’m sorry but it was really hard. But it is beautiful that our bodies can do so much.” They did not officially know the gender of the baby until the birth, but Jessika said she knew she was having a girl. The couple says it was a good, smooth birth. Jessika labored naturally until she was at an 8, then she got a spinal, but it wore off as she was giving birth. Skyla was born healthy and safe.
She is very thankful for her kind and attentive nurses and doctor, she wanted to shout-out her OB-GYN Dr. Comish at IHS. “He is the best OB-GYN I have had with any of my pregnancies. He was amazing, he takes very good care of his patients. I was so thankful for him,” Jessika said.
They are so grateful for everything. The couple wanted to thank everyone, and shout-out Councilman Todd Appenay and the Fort Hall Business Council. They received numerous gifts from Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Departments, individuals, and local businesses.
Skyla was also the 2025 New Year’s Baby at Portneuf Medical Center.
