Dear Kids,
      Great News! Stuart James Mair was born yesterday afternoon at 2:48 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz., and is 20½ inches long. You can see his picture on Nora’s Blog: http://mairmania.blogspot.com/. During Nora’s labor, James had his laptop in the room, and uploaded pictures during the day. Now that’s technology!
      Other baby news: Amy Tregaskis Anson had her baby on August 31st. He weighed 7/8, was 20“ long, and they said he looks a lot like Caleb. They’ve named him Jacob David Anson. Katie Rickett Raymond also had her baby (boy) on the 31st, or maybe the 30th. She wanted to have him before the school-year deadline, so she was induced. It was a long labor, and they finally did a C-section, but at least he made it before the deadline. Let’s hope she doesn’t change her mind in five years and hold him back, after all that trouble.
      Andrea Hill came by last Sunday! They’re home from China, settled in St. George, and she’s loving America. Little things like driving a car, sending her kid to public school (it would cost $20,000 a year to send him to an English-speaking school in China), things like that. The only thing she really misses about China is her full-time maid, who only cost $200 a month, and taught her Chinese besides. Andrea came by our house to get some bar stools that she had ordered from Diamond Mattress in Salt Lake, where Renae has an account. I had picked them up for her on Friday, because the place wasn’t open on weekends. Besides getting the bar stools, Andrea wanted to know how all of you were doing, so I showed her ackerson.org. She was delighted. She said every family should have a web site. Rachel said the same thing a couple of weeks ago, when we were in Albuquerque. She said, “I need information!” and I told her there was more than she could every possibly read. She didn’t think so. But, Vanessa, she was disappointed that you don’t have a blog. Andrea was, too. Couldn’t you please get on the bandwagon! Monica and Neil, it’s so easy! I would really like to see pictures of you! John? Paul? It only takes a few minutes to upload that all-important “information” that Rachel was so excited about.
      I’ve had lots of fun on e-bay lately. It’s even more fun than Half.com, because you have the excitement of watching your stuff go up in price. I listed the old set of Harvard Classics that I got from Grandma and Grandpa about 30 years ago. They’re not in very good shape, so my ad said, “If you want to really read the Harvard Classics, and not just put them on a shelf, this is the set for you!” I also included a picture of them, sitting on the white shelves, with beanie babies just above. There have been several bids, and now they’re up to $51.00, plus postage. I’ll be glad to send them to a good home. I also discovered the fun of using CraigsList, where I sold two mountain bikes that dad won at UTA, which were sort of cheaply-made, and too small for us. I listed them as “Two for the price of one–$49.00" The price was probably way too low, because we had dozens of calls. But at least I sold them! It’s not about the money, but just the excitement of making a sale! I probably missed my calling in life!
      I have the pictures from Mike Rogers. They really turned out great! I’ll sort them out and get them to you all.
      Live is good! Lots of love, Mom