More Cute Pictures of Patrick...

To see really cute pictures of Patrick, see his aunt Holly's blog.
There is a link to her blog on this one, just look for "Daniel & Holly Walker" under Friends and Family, then click on the link.
Once on her blog, look for the posting entitled,
"Turbo" Collins

Guess Who???

"That's Right; I'm the Naked Cowboy.

This diaper is loaded and I am not afraid to use it."A little half turn... pivot... and then...

Big Finish!

Good Night! Show is Over.

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"Uhh, Security, why are these people still looking at me? The show is over. It's time to move on to another blog folks. You could say, 'you're at the bottom of this posting.'

Really folks, a little privacy, please.

Where is my private dressing room?"

Bible Methodist Campmeeting 2009

Jerrel sells flags and gives all the money to the Children's Missionary Project.

(Yes, It ALL goes to the Boy's Team.)

We would tell people that,

"We have an international business going here.

These flags were made in China and sold in The United States to purchase a church bus in Mexico."

I believe I was explaining the Campmeeting Special:

"The Large Flags are $6.00,

The Medium Flags are $3.00,

The Small Flags are $1.00;

But for the week of Campmeeting ONLY -

We are selling you one of each for ONLY $10.00.

What a Great Deal."

Jerrel sang in the Children's Choir.

Patrick is greeted by the evangelist, Great Uncle Leonard.

Corticia, a young lady from our church testifies prior to being baptized.

Praise the Lord for this young person with a heart for God.

Jessica, another young person from our church, gets baptized by her grandfather and uncle.

I am proud of Jessica and her desire to serve God.

Bethany Fleming testifies before being baptized.

God is Good.

Our Conference President, Walt Hedstrom.

Father's Day 2009 (Better to Post Late than Never)

Are we sleeping or is this posed?

Breakfast in Bed. I'm Spoiled.

Pictures after church Sunday afternoon with my boys.

Glad to be a Dad.

A Quick Update...

Summer Flowers in our Yard.

The Brazier Family Reunion (my wife's Nana's side)

The Brazier Family Tree.

During this trip, Krista and I decided to try overnight backpacking. We had a great time.

The rest of the "overnighters"

Mini golfing with Mimi and Papa.

Papa perfecting his short iron shot.

Most of the entire Family went to Dollywood for a day.

Jerrel, Mommy, and Daddy rode a water ride.

I believe Mommy won the "got the wettest" award on that ride.

Who knew that ducks at Dollywood will let you get really close to them?

Jerrel chased this poor duck all over the place.

He was fascinated at how close he could get without the duck flying away.

Of course, there were several trips to the beautiful Cades Cove.

Here, the boys got really close to a deer.

Just add water = lots of fun for the kids.

Not exactly the relaxing dip in the hot tub Krista and I were hoping for, but fun none the less.

What's a trip to anywhere around Gatlinburg without going to the Pancake Pantry. The trip is not complete, if you ask Krista, until you've eaten there.

Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream Syrup.

Collins Family Picture

Thought for the Ages...

Is Leonard still out here in Blog-land?

Still Here...

I'm still here. I am rushing towards graduation from College and that means that I do not have much free time. I have been very active and lots of things are going on in our lives. Since my last update we have:
1. Had my sister, Janette and her children, from Indiana, visit us.
2. Gone to Indiana (to visit my Family) for Easter.
3. Been to a couple more Civil War Reenactments.
4. Had some really great Sunday Services at church. (God's presence very real.)
5. I preached at church Sunday Morning (April 19th)
6. My Jr./Sr. Banquet (at Southeastern Bible College)
I intend to post more frequently once I am done with College. I know that other things will quickly take the place of homework and class time, but I'm ready to be done with college for a while.

Thanks for checking in...

March - In like a Lion...

March 1st brought us a "Snow Day." This was nice as Jerrel has prayed for snow a lot this season. God is good. We made sure that we thanked God for the snow and then we went out and enjoyed the day. This was a Sunday and our church services were cancelled for the day. We had a short service in the house and then we bundled up and headed outside. You will notice that there are very few pictures of Patrick in the snow. Once his hands got cold, he was done having fun. Bless his heart.

Jerrel received a call from a girl in our church early Sunday morning advising him that God had answered his prayer. This is Jerrel confirming God's answer.

Patrick wants to check it out too.

Hey Mom, take a picture of this.

Patrick checks out the snowball.

We did venture out a little later that morning and ended up at Papa and Mimi's house.

This "yellow bell" was beautiful.

Aunt Holly, Mommy, and Jerrel made a snowman out near the road.
Jerrel makes a Snow Angel.

The family goes for a walk.

Papa's Philosophy:

"Just because there is snow on the ground does not mean it is cold outside."

Jerrel is in hiding and prepared to attack.



"Fire!"
Oblivious to the danger, Mommy presses on.

Counter Attack!

Fox and Geese

More Fox and Geese madness.
Ben and Beth Fleming

Had to get this picture to prove I was there.

Ben agrees to be the target for large snowballs.

The snowballs hit their mark.

Jerrel picking up the snowman's head.

Dr. Dan and his trusted assistant, Ben prepare to embed an arm on "Frosty."

"Frosty" is just about complete when the sun comes out.

Group shot

What is it about cold hearted men?

Maybe the girls knew he would not be around long?

"Frosty", Daniel, and Holly
Once again, proving that I was there.

It was a fun time and a beautiful time.

God is Good!

Jerrel is Daddy's BIG helper!!!

The other day, I was working in the yard and I needed to plant some rose bushes for Krista. Jerrel stated that he wanted to help. Krista grabbed the camera and here are a couple shots of my hard working son.

Family Day - Trip to Gadsden Alabama.

On Friday, Feb. 13th we took a short Family Day Trip and went about 50 miles away to Gadsden Alabama. There is a Children's Museum there with lots of thing for children to do. The children are encouraged to dress up and pretend to be grown up. It was a great day. During lunch time, we walked down the historic street of Gadsden and saw a couple of rough looking men doing some brick mason work, restoring one of the store fronts. I spoke with them briefly and explained that I used to work in the brick mason field also. I introduced my wife and boys to them. We spoke for just a moment and then as I turned to leave one of the men looked at my wife and boys and said, "You are a blessed man." I turned to him and said, "Yes, I am, I know that I am." I turned and walked away and nearly cried as I pushed Patrick's stroller and watched my wife and Jerrel walking ahead of me.

"Lord, Thank you for my family."

Below are a lot of pictures from the day.

This place had a very cozy courtyard.

Jerrel, all dressed up like Uncle Micheal.

Me with the Fire Chief.

(at least that's what Patrick's hat said he was.)

I love this Dr. After a quick check of my pulse and telling me to relax, he told me,

"You need to eat more, that what you need to do, that will make you all better."

Now I would pay a co-pay for medical advice like that.

Patrick loved being buried in the rubber chips.

Jerrel and Patrick feed Mommy.

Patrick played in the "Kiddie Play Place."

It had items designed for children his age.

At lunch time we were just walking down the street and wandered into this store.

What a great place.

We ate lunch in the little deli inside the store.

The man who worked the counter said he used to come into this same store when he was a boy and buy ice cream for 5 cents. He was very nice.

Krista said that she had never seen so much "Radio Flyer" stuff in one location.
All the same store here.

Krista finds a hair piece that looks quite nice, don't you think?

She stated that she needed a picture of me in this hat.

I thought this old Movie Theatre was neat.

They advertised that they had "air conditioning."

In the deep south, I'm sure that helped business.

This was the street entrance to the cozy courtyard that was at the children's museum.

Isn't Krista just beautiful?

Once again, she wants me photo documented that I was there.

Like I've said before, She's beautiful.

Once back inside the PlayPlace, Jerrel shops at the "Squiggly Wiggly."

Hey, Someone has got to be the Cashier!

Jerrel took his turn. He was rough. He weighed everything and made sure that he punched in every item.

As I mentioned, Patrick loved being buried in the rubber chips.

I think it was too close to nap time at this point and that may have contributed to the compliant behavior.All in all, it was a great day of family bonding.

I am truly a Blessed Man.

My Darling Krista - Valentine Dinner

On Feb. 12th we had our very own private dinner at home. (We had gone out to the "Fancy" Restaurant the weekend before to avoid the crowds.) My wonderful mother and father-in-law agreed to watch the boys so that Krista and I could celebrate Valentine's Day without any distractions. It was nice to be at home and able to just focus on her. She is my darling and I love her more now than ever. I thank God daily for her. What a beautiful young lady!!!

Krista is putting the finishing touches on dinner.

Krista and I

My Favorite Dinner

(have I mentioned that Krista is an awesome cook.)

Dessert

I took advantage of the candles and roses to try and take some pictures.




KRISTA, I ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOU!!!

"Christmas" at New Year's...

Krista and I alternate Christmas Day with her family and mine. This year Christmas day for us was spent in Indiana with my family. Therefore, after going to the Alabama Symphony Orchestra concert on New Year's Eve night, we came back to the Mom and Dad Fleming's home to officially kick off our Christmas with them. Mom (Mimi) wanted to give the boys a couple of gifts that night. She got the boys a new set of matching P.J.'s

Jerrel gets a new puzzle.


Patrick enjoys his new toy.

Now, Lets move forward to Christmas day...

"Santa" got Jerrel an entire Jay Jay set.

Patrick received gifts from "Santa" as well.

Jerrel said, "This is exact-tily what I wanted!"

Patrick was so cute this year. Every gift that he opened he would say, "Oohh Woooowwwwww!"

The Den scene on "Christmas morning" (actually New Year's Day)

Daniel wishes you a "Merry New Year."

Give a kid a chainsaw and he will cut something.

Patrick models Papa's new hat.

What's a Christmas celebration without the food...

...and desserts!!!

We had a Wonderful Christmas. God is so good to our family. What an awesome occasion that we celebrate. We are truly blessed.

New Year's Eve with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra.

On New Years Eve, Krista and I went to the historic Alabama Theatre to hear the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (A.S.O.). They handed out the masks and people have a lot of fun. The A.S.O. does an outstanding job and their members even seem to have fun with it. We heard a fabulous soprano sing along with the A.S.O. She was fantastic. All in all it was a great evening.

Krista and I in front of the Alabama Theatre.

It was cold out that evening, a rare chance for Krista to wear her "fur."

The Ladies.

Daniel and Holly Walker.

Krista and I strike a pose.

Bethany took a friend, Liz, from College.

(Ben was scheduled to go hunting.)

Christmas In Indiana

Lots of pictures comming right up.

On the way to Indiana it was very cold. We saw a lot of ice on the side of the road. Jerrel wanted to stop and get out and play with the Icicles. He took this picture of me.

Christmas Morning Breakfast.

On Christmas day, Krista, Jerrel, Patrick, and I went to the Mitchell Manor, where Janelle works. We wanted to give to others who would not have a family Christmas. We asked Janelle to pick out a couple of patients there that would likely not have any family or friend come to see them on Christmas. It was a fun time and as you can expect I was able to get a funny story but more importantly, I was able to talk to Jerrel about giving rather than receiving at Christmas. We are very blessed.

We gave each person a nice pair of slippers. We found out when this man opened his that he does not like slippers. I quote, "I don't like slippers, Sock feet only for me. I don't like slippers. Momma always made me wear slippers but I don't like slippers. No slippers for me. I don't like slippers, sock feet only for me."

(We gave his slippers to someone else.)

Christmas Lunch.

Get up early, play hard all day, miss a nap, and what do you expect when you make a kid sit down and be still... even if it is for supper...zzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

Janelle with her daughters

Caitlyn (Left) and Heather (right)

Other Misc. Pictures...

Austin and Ashlyn

Jerrel and Patrick with Papaw

Krista, Janelle, and Zion

Ashlyn and Jerrel (They seemed to have a lot of fun together.)

Could we please have all the children by themselves? Ah, Krista, Janette, and Dad... I was wanting to try to get just the children. Oh yeah, without you there as guards, we would not get all the children to stay there. My bad. And Dad, You make sure they look alright from the back. "Pre-she-ate-cha, really do."

We go Caroling...

We have gone caroling and out to look at the Christmas lights for the past several years.

This year we had some ladies from the church join us. We had a blast. We have started decorating the trailer that we ride on to make it a little more festive. (although I'm not sure how legal we were.) We joked that people would think that we were a lost float from some Christmas parade. Here are just a few pictures of our outing...

Decorating is fun, but can wear you out...

Jerrel loves to help "det-o-wate." On Thursday, December 18th Jerrel was staying with Nana and Papaw (Krista's grandparents) and decided that they needed more "det-o-ray-shuns" and so Papaw said that they would need to go explore the attic to see if they could find more decorations to put out. (Is it any wonder that Papaw stays side-to-side with the great-grandchildren?) They climbed up the ladder and into the dark attic with only one light on an extension cord. As they were searching through the boxes and bags, Jerrel found something soft and thought that he might try it out for comfort. Being past his normal nap time, the following is what Krista and I returned to find. (The flash from the camera makes it look really light up there but it was not.)

A picture is worth a thousand words...

It's dressing time and that means that mommy has to do "range of motion" exercises with my hurt finger.

Need I say more???

Patrick vs A Candle

This post will have pictures at the bottom. The pictures are somewhat sad and so if you have a weak stomach just read about the burn and don't look at the pictures.

On Monday evening, December 1st, Krista and the boys went to Mimi's house to "det-o-wait (decorate) for Christmas." I was in class and therefore the boys and Krista could have fun and help Mimi all at the same time. A long story short (kind-of like a preacher saying, "in closing"), Patrick was roaming the house for just a few moments before being put in his bed. Krista and her mother (Mimi) were in the kitchen when they heard Patrick scream and Krista turned to see Jerrel running out of the den area. Krista thought that Jerrel may have taken something away from Patrick and that was the cause of the sudden loud outburst. Not so. She and her mother said "CANDLE!!!" at about the same time and they raced into the den where Patrick had extenguished the fire in a jar candle with his left index finger.

This is the part where I really shorten it.

Krista thought she saw wax on his finger and attempted to remove the wax. In doing so she removed the burned skin. Relax... The doctors told her that was probably the best thing that she could have done at that point.

She or her mother called our pediatricians after hours # and they recommended that they take him to the Childrens hospital ER to then be seen in the burn unit due to the fact that there was skin loss and it was on his hand (finger).

Krista called me. Thankfully I was on a short break from the 4 hour class.

They (Krista, her Daddy, and Patrick) headed to Children's and I headed to Children's. Jerrel stayed with Mimi, to take care of her. :-)

Patrick had finally calmed down by the time they arrived at the ER. I got there just a moment after they did. It was sad. He's a Daddy's boy and when he saw me he reached out for me and started to cry again. Well great, now there were two of us crying.

Finally, we saw a doctor in the burn unit. (I know I'm getting old. The Dr. did not look like he could have been out of H.S. let alone Med. School.) The doctor stated that Patrick had a third degree burn on the tip of his left index finger and second degree burns on most of the rest of that one finger. As bad as that may sound, and it is, it could have been a lot worse. He was wearing long sleeve P.J.'s and the doctor stated that sometimes the clothes catch on fire and that could have resulted in a much worse situation.

We were given all the necessary items to dress the wound at the house and the doctor expressed confidence in Krista's and her mother's (a former R.N.) capability to handle the dressing at home and to be alert for any signs of infection.

Needless to say, there has been much prayer about this situation. The pictures may look rough but to anyone who deals with burns they will see that God has been good to us.

The plastic surgeon at Children's (who specializes in children's hands) indicated that he does not feel like any skin grafting will be necessary. Praise the Lord.

Here comes the pictures. We took these each time we would change the dressing. The ones that look the worst are from a time when he had pulled the dressing off during the night and the wound dried out a little.

If you have a weak stomach this is where you stop.

Still here...

Just as a pastor once asked a church congregation to testify every once in a while so that he would know that everything is alright with them. I would like to just take a moment of your time to let you know that I am doing fine and that God is good. Although my blogging is suffering from my busy life, I am doing well.

And quite frankly, it's none of the devil's bit-ness.

So until I get more time to spend on this venue of communication, you can more accurately follow my life through the blogs of my family and friends. (I've even tried to make it easy for you by adding a link to their blogs on mine - Now how sweet is that.)

Thanks to Daniel and Holly (although we all know it's Holly who does the blog spot) and thanks to Andy and Julie (although we all know that it's Julie who does the blog spot) and also thanks to Ben and Beth (although we all know it's Beth who does the blog spot) for all their work keeping my friends and family apprised of my family and our wanderings and doings. I think that this is a good thing. Lets just keep the flattery going, you never know how many friends I have out there that may check out your blogs just to try and see glimpses of me. Y'all make me look good now, even if you need to photoshop some pictures and make up some kind flattering words about me. Thanks. ~Leonard.

Family Reunion Time...

The Dan and Deb Collins Family Reunion 2008

Krista, Jerrel, Patrick, and I loaded up and headed to Indiana for the week of August 4th through the 10th. We arrived late Monday night and as expected my mother was waiting up for us. Tuesday morning we drove up to Indianapolis and went to the Children's Science Museum. We had a great time and there were lots of thing for the children to do. Can someone say "sensory overload?" We stayed and played and laughed and cried right on through nap time and into dinner time. I joked with my sister-in-laws Rachel and Michelle that this excursion was about the most I'd ever been charged to babysit my own children. (Mom actually paid, thanks Mom) We took lots of pictures.

On late Wednesday night, my two brothers made it in. Mom, Krista, and I waited up until the wee hours of Thursday morning for them to get in.

Thursday the Children cooled down by playing in the water in Dad and Mom's back yard. (Sorry about the destroyed grass, Dad.) They had lots of fun sliding on a slip-n-slide.

Austin figures out how the thing works and made it all the way to the pool.

On Friday, we had the highlight of the reunion, for most. The entire family went to a lake. Mom had reserved a pontoon boat and we had a great time.

Jerrel and I get to ride "Big Bertha."

My brothers and I had to see who could stand up on the tube the longest. I won. They came up with reasons that I somehow was able to do it longer than them. They claim I was standing further back on the tube than they were. Fact remains I stood much much longer than they did.

There was so much more to this reunion than I can post on my blog but one thing that I want to be sure that everyone knows. The fact that my Mom works so hard for us all to be able to do this. She is truly the glue that holds this family together. I was blessed to be a part of family devotions when God's presence came to the Collins family reunion. What a memorable moment!

Mom, if you read this, know that I love you and I am proud to be your son. Your desire for our family to be Godly first and foremost is very important and I know that God will honor your prayers. You are worthy of much more praise than this short blog could hold. I thank God for you and pray that God blesses you in a special way. ~Leonard

(Mom, please note that I did not use my last name to sign off.)