Recent Pictures and Summer Happenings

Marcia came to visit and we all went to Stone Mountain Park and did lots of activities. Rode the train, Played Mini-golf, Played in the Kids playhouse, and Watched the Laser show.

Maren was blessed on Father's Day!

Lindsey becomes "Fancy Lindsey" with the help of Grandma and the book she brought.

Lindsey likes to run and play soccer like Tanner

Tanner has a week long soccer camp with England players. Tanner and his 3 coaches.



Tanner finishes Pre-K and loved his teachers.

Supreme Court Got it right this time

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a constitutional right to keep guns in their homes for self-defense, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun control in U.S. history.


My question is why was this ever questioned at all? That's what the second amendment gives us a right to do.


But it also had in the news that, "Mayors Pledge to Uphold Gun Control Laws Despite Supreme Court Ruling." Who are these Mayors and why?

New Pollingpoint Questions and results

Here are some more questions for you to answer from Pollingpoint!

1) Which comes closest to your view about evaluating students for admission into a college or university?

A. Applicants should be admitted solely on the basis or merit, even if that results in few minority students being admitted.
B. An applicant's racial background should be considered to help promote diversity on college campuses, even if that means admitting some minority students with lower qualifications.

2) Regardless of which candidate you support, who do you think will win?

A. John McCain will probably win the election
B. The election will be very close
C. Barack Obama will probably win the election
D. Another candidate will probably win the election
E. Not sure

3) Should middle schools or high schools make free condoms or birth control bills available to students?

A. Middle schools
B. High schools
C. Both
D. Neither
E. Not sure

Some other results:

Which of these people do you think would make a good role model for young girls? (teens)


Which of these people do you think would make a good role model for young girls? (adults)

Family links you wish you didn't know about

I am grateful for Mike Page for starting a Geni account (www.geni.com) where you can see geneology for your family and also that it reminds you when a birthday is near and information about your family members. Actually, Carie is already sick of all the emails, but I don't mind them as a chance to learn about history and family. I just hope we get more people to join and take advantage of everything it can offer. But sometimes you might not want to know who you might be related to. For example, how about if you find your relative is Adolf Hitler or something?

This kind of happened to me yesterday when I clicked to see who a person is from the latest email. Joy Brisbo is the person I was interested in and it took me to a page that said she is my fourth cousin's wife's aunt. It also tells you how you are related by creating direct lines to that person from yourself, Blue color lines are blood family members and it switches to red lines if it goes through a marriage. Joy Brisbo is not my direct relative because it switches to red at Marcia Sheffield. I thought this is weird because Kim Sheffield is Blue. These are my wife Carie's Parents!!! I click on Kim Sheffield (Carie's Dad) and it says we are fourth cousins. Aparently, my great great grandfather and Kim's great great grandmother are brother and sister from Denmark. It is on my mom side and Carie's dad side. I just think it is a little wierd that Carie is also my Fourth cousin once removed if this is accurate. I know it doesn't really make that big of an deal, but you don't expect to be somewhat related to your wife at all or for at least for minimum of 10 generations.

Flying $ Tips and inefficiency

I am so curious on how some of the same flights to and from cities are so many different prices.

For example, we have been looking for a flight for Carie's Mother (Marcia) to come out to Georgia to see us for a while and never have found a good deal until 2 weeks ago.

The last time we found a flight for her was about 1 1/2 years ago and it was from Medford, Oregon to Atlanta for around $350. But the funny thing is that it traveled through Portland. So Medford to Portland to Atlanta. But the same flight# from Portland to Atlanta was $450. Which we didn't mind from Medford because that was 1 hour closer for Marcia to go to instead of Portland. But it is usually cheaper from Portland to Atlanta.

Going back to the most recent flight we just got, we have never seen any better than $475 for a flight from Portland to Atlanta or anywhere near Portland (Medford or Eugene). But, I was just checking around at different airports around Atlanta which include Greenville, SC - Birmingham, AL - Chattanooga, TN - or Augusta, Macon, or Athens GA which are all within driving distance (all about 2 hours of driving from Atlanta). I found this flight from Delta from Portland to Birmingham, AL for $250 which was great. Again the funny thing is that it goes through Atlanta both times. So Portland to Atlanta then Birmingham here, then from Birmingham to Atlanta then Portland Back. But the same flight# if I only wanted Portland to Atlanta was $700. So I went ahead and got that flight to Birmingham knowing I probably have to drive there and back both times, but that will still save lots of money. (Around $100 in Gas to Birmingham back and forth twice vs around $30 in Gas to and from Atlanta airport twice).

So I call Delta just yesterday and see if there is a way to just stop in Atlanta because it goes there anyway instead of taking up a seat and getting a drink to go to Birmingham. I was even willing to pay around $100 more to do so for just saving the time. But I was told that you can't cancel one part or it all gets cancelled and the same flight just from Portland to Atlanta is $700. I told them I'm just going to drive to Birmingham that is only 2 hours away for $100 in Gas, but wanted to give you the opportunity to get that money for Delta instead of the Gas company but they said they couldn't do anything. No wonder the Airlines are going bankrupt all the time, they don't make smart business sense or decisions. Again I was trying to pay them $100 for me not taking up 2 seats and 2 drinks from them, but they can't do that. Oh well.

Hockey and Soccer

When I was growing up my two favorite sports were College Football and Basketball. Probably because everyone liked BYU Football and my dad liked football a lot too. Basketball was always up there too because that was the sport I played most growing up and probably still play most. (Try to play every Wednesday night with our ward). But I don't have much passion for either of these 2 sports anymore and I haven't had much a desire to watch these sports for a while now (College and Pro).

Over the last few years, Hockey has continually been my favorite sport. After learning and playing it in many different ways (Ice, Roller, and Floor) it is a sport that is so fast and exciting even though it is a lot less scoring than any of those from my past. I audited the Ice Hockey class at BYU twice after I took it for real just to get more practice. Soccer is growing and growing with me. First of all it is a lot like Hockey, with goal scoring and complex play making with a true team effort. I think it is too late to try to learn to play it though, but I follow it pretty good. I find myself turning to the Spanish channel occasionally just to see if it has a game on even though I can't understand the commentary.

Other sports I like to watch and sometimes play include Tennis and Volleyball.

Other sports that I have never enjoyed include: Baseball and Racing (Nascar)

Sports (if you call these sports) that I think people are foolish by even participating in: Boxing, fighting (like UFC. -sorry Kevin, actually that's maybe why you like to watch it?) and Poker.

My Euro 2008 Predictions

Here are my Predictions for Euro 2008. The European Championship of Soccer held every 4 years. Want to play too or do you know about soccer? Signup for Euro Pickup on ESPN.com.

GAME SELECTIONS FOR JeffBrown [Jeffrey Brown] GROUP HOME HOME/DRAW/AWAY AWAY DATE (ET) STADIUM Group A Switzerland Czech Republic Jun. 7, 12:00 PM St Jakob Park Group A Portugal Turkey Jun. 7, 2:45 PM Stade de Geneve Group A Czech Republic Portugal Jun. 11, 12:00 PM Stade Geneve Group A Switzerland Turkey Jun. 11, 2:45 PM St Jakob Park Group A Turkey Czech Republic Jun. 15, 2:45 PM Stade Geneve Group A Switzerland Portugal Jun. 15, 2:45 PM St Jakob Park Group B Austria Croatia Jun. 8, 12:00 PM Ernst Happel Stadion Group B Germany Poland Jun. 8, 2:45 PM Worthersee Stadion Group B Croatia Germany Jun. 12, 12:00 PM Wortherseestadion Group B Austria Poland Jun. 12, 2:45 PM Ernst Happel Stadion Group B Poland Croatia Jun. 16, 2:45 PM Wortherseestadion Group B Austria Germany Jun. 16, 2:45 PM Ernst Happel Stadion Group C Romania France Jun. 9, 12:00 PM Letzigrund Stadium Group C Netherlands Italy Jun. 9, 2:45 PM Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Group C Italy Romania Jun. 13, 12:00 PM Letzigrund Stadium Group C Netherlands France Jun. 13, 2:45 PM Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Group C France Italy Jun. 17, 2:45 PM Letzigrund Stadium Group C Netherlands Romania Jun. 17, 2:45 PM Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Group D Spain Russia Jun. 10, 12:00 PM Tivoli Neu Stadium Group D Greece Sweden Jun. 10, 2:45 PM Wals-Siezenhem Stadion Group D Sweden Spain Jun. 14, 12:00 PM Letzigrund Stadium Group D Greece Russia Jun. 14, 2:45 PM Wals-Siezenhem Stadion Group D Russia Sweden Jun. 18, 2:45 PM Tivoli Neu Stadium Group D Greece Spain Jun. 18, 2:45 PM Wals-Siezenhem Stadion Quarterfinals Winner Group A Runner-up Group B Jun. 19, 2:45 PM TBD Quarterfinals Winner Group B Runner-up Group A Jun. 20, 2:45 PM TBD Quarterfinals Winner Group C Runner-up Group D Jun. 21, 2:45 PM TBD Quarterfinals Winner Group D Runner-up Group C Jun. 22, 2:45 PM TBD Semifinals W25 W26 Jun. 25, 2:45 PM TBD Semifinals W27 W28 Jun. 26, 2:45 PM TBD Final W29 W30 Jun. 29, 2:45 PM TBD Tiebreaker Final Score Guess 1 2 Final Score Guess - Selected Pick - Correct Selection - Incorrect Selection