Shining Stars Inspire Me

The Shining Stars are here again from all around the country and bring such light and joy to our valley.

Life with cancer as a child is unfair, but you'd never know it by chatting with these outstanding children.

I'm just so happy that they had such a gorgeous week here in Aspen.

Kathy--thanks for all you do to make this week so special for the children, the volunteers and the town.

How can Two Years Have Passed?

Isn't it amazing sometimes when you realize how quickly times passes? We just turned the clocks forward and it's now springtime with a whole extra hour of light in the afternoons!

I was going through photos and found this one of a fabulous drawing by a child in Sand Point, Idaho. I was the guest author -- yes, two years ago. What a great day of writing workshops as well as art projects all arranged by the school's wonderful librarian. The days up in Sand Point are even longer than down here in Colorado!!

Happy Spring.

My Kenyan Pen Pal

I thought it would be fun to share with you my wonderful penpal from Kenya. His name is Nimrod and it's a great story. In 2000, our family had the amazing opportunity to travel to Kenya. We spent 2 weeks and our favorite place was the Masa Mara where we went on safari and saw the most incredible wildlife. We fell in love with the landscape, the animals and the people.

I gave the Snowmass Fraser book to our guide, Wesley. Several years later, I received in the mail a letter with a photograph. In the letter, I found out that Wesley had given the book to his son, Nimrod. Nimrod was writing me to tell me how much he had enjoyed my book and that he had learned to ski in his mind. He asked if Courtney could be his pen pal. Courtney at the time was so busy in school, that I knew she would not be able to write on a consistent basis, so, I jumped in.

Over the years, Nimrod and I have stayed in touch. Then, when Courtney graduated from college in 2008, we went back to Kenya. I wrote our guide to see if it was possible to locate Wesley and to be able to meet Nimrod. She told me she had lost track of Wesley and no, it was not really possible. Long story, but when we were in the Masa Mara for our second time, I came to the lodge for cocktails and dinner. I walked in and everyone looked at me at once. Because the sun was behind them, I couldn't really see right away. But then, I was astounded to see Wesley sitting on a couch with 2 kids by his side.

It was such a wonderful reunion and fantastic to finally meet Nimrod and his beautiful sister, Miriam. This photo is Nimrod and myself. I had brought some gifts, just in case. Here, Nimrod has on a T-shirt from the US! My gift from them was their presence!

They even saw us off from the tiny air strip the next day. Nimrod and I continue to stay in touch. I miss his beautiful letters, but now we email!

We're Halfway Through the Winter!

What a crazy winter it has been. As I look out my big picture window, I'm reminded, about this time of year, even though we have lots of snow and it's beautiful, it's time to start thinking of spring.

Have you noticed that the days are so much longer? The extra daylight is wonderful and I can get more projects done! It's supposed to snow again tomorrow and winter will be back but for at least today, spring is in the air. We've been so lucky that the skiing remains delightful. Enjoy your day.

Maggie joins Fraser in Doggie Heaven

Maggie--sweet, loyal, devoted. Maggie lived to a ripe age of 13. She was one of the best dogs we've ever had the privilege of having in our family. Not only was she Fraser's best friend for 10 years, we loved her so much words just can't describe.

Maggie was not only one of the stars of my series of children's books, but visited schools, helped me with the Fraser Writing Contest, came with me to a zillion book signings, was a pet therapy dog for our local hospital and senior center. She made many a person smile who had just undergone surgery or only had hours left to live. Just her presence was so comforting to so many. The staff at the hospital misses her.

You've seen photos on my blog of kids meeting Maggie and the joy they got from meeting the "real" dog in the books!!

Maggie--you will be missed but we're so happy you're with Fraser and our other dogs who have passed into another world of rainbows and 24-hours of fun, dog bones and love.

More Holiday Fun

Maggie really enjoyed her time at the Silvertree Hotel over the holidays.

Thanks to all the children and parents who joined us at the Silvertree and the Hotel Jerome. Reading the Fraser books to children is a real joy for me.

I wish you all a very Happy and Snowy New Year!!

For those of you who have left the mountains, we finally got a lovely, well-needed snow storm on Saturday. This gives us all a big lift for January.

Winterskol is right around the corner.

Holiday Story Hour in Snowmass

We had so much fun reading to the children at the Silvertree Hotel last week.

Here were some kids who loved the "fill-in" Fraser dog. They decorated him with reindeer antlers and a nose and generally had a great time taking off and putting on his life preserver.

I hope to wish any of our followers a very Happy Holiday season.

If any of you are in the Aspen area, we will be at the Hotel Jerome Tuesday, Dec. 27 at 3:30 for the 12 Days of Christmas story reading.

We will be back at the Silvertree Hotel on Thursday, Dec. 29th at 4:30.

We hope to see you all there.