One of the things that I liked most about my childhood, is that I was raised on the Mississippi River. I was born in North Dakota, but moved quickly through New Orleans, and settled for a while in Cape Girardeau, Missouri which over looks the Mississippi. There I leared to swim and play with the fire flies. My family moved again to Emporia, Kansas, with a short stop over in Springfield, Ill. (My personal bet on the actual location of 742 Evergreen Terrace). After I went to college, my family moved to Huntsville, Texas where they currently live.
After my first year of college, I took a two year break to serve a church
mission to Thailand. There, I taught Thai people about God, and His
plan of salvation. You can see pictures
of the people and places or you can read a better explanation of
what a mission is.
I went to college at Brigham Young
University. After testing many majors, I
finally decided on computer science. I graduated from BYU with a BS in 2002.
While living in Provo, I worked for the
Center for Instructional Design which makes internet courses for BYU,
and for
Bryan Morse in the graphics and image processing lab.
During my first senior year, I met and
started to date Mollie Madsen. That summer I got an internship in Washington DC
(with the NIH), which is near where Mollie's family lives. We had a wonderful
summer dating and exploring the Washington area. That fall, I proposed
and we were married on February 16, 2002 in the Manti Utah temple. We've posted
losts of our wedding pictures, if you wish to browse them.
My wife and I have moved to San Diego California. I
am student at the
University of
California at San Diego, seeking my PhD in
bioinformatics. Mollie works for Brandes Associates,
a Department of Defense contractor, working primarily with the navy.
We now have a son Harrison Grant Payne. He is super cute in this collage, and we have
lots of pictures of him posted as
well.
The Chicago Cubs 
The Simpsons. My family tapes episodes,
Ultimate Frisbee
My Wife also has a web page for our family.
My Dad works for
Sam Houston State University.
My Mom's hobby is to help seminary teachers.
(she herself being one)
My sister Sara lives in
NYC.
My brother John has about the best web page of us
all.
