The Bayleat Family Band

This is the Balyeat Family Band -- a terrific family of performers -- talented in so many instruments, original song writers, and ambassadors to uplift to the soul.



My family had a treat of going to Gibson Park this past Tuesday evening to feed the ducks, geese, and sea gulls. We also sat and listened to several Christian bluegrass bands play in the bandshell area.



I thought one of the performers in this group looks a lot like David Letterman. What do you think?




The following was written by Nancy Balyeat (mom in the Bayleat Family Band):


Bob & Nancy Balyeat and five of their children travel all over the country singing and sharing their faith at fairs, festivals, churches or clubs. Their warm versatile style has been a blessing to many events, bringing the sunshine of hope and the freshness of laughter.
Bob Balyeat is the head of the family. He manages the band and weaves a message of God's love and power throughout their songs.He sings and accompanies the family on guitar and bass fiddle.
Nancy Balyeat is the mother of the Balyeat family, nurturing them in their gifts, as well as enjoying singing and playing the guitar and the keyboard with them.
James , age 19 , will amaze you with his accomplished bass skills and versatility, flat picking guitar & singing and has good stage presence. He is blessed to bring with him, Amanda, his wife! She is a blessing to all of us with her fiddle, banjo and mandolin and her bright spirit. She is greatly loved by all of us!
Rose , age 16, plays fiddle & mandolin and sings. She is Mom's right hand, doing laundry and remembering all their important dates.
MaryAnna age 15, plays fiddle and banjo. She carries the melodies with gusto, Charis , age 12, adds spice to the music with fiddle licks and solos and sings harmonies. Charity , age 8, adds the element of surprise, singing, playing fiddle, and dancing into the hearts of everyone we meet!

Kite Flying

Today, the boys (Wynston and Avery) went kite flying with Uncle Robert and myself. Even though it was COOL outside we braved it as the winds were just right to lift the kites almost immediately.



Avery concluded the outing by saying, "It was fun, but my toes got a little cold".

Geese Like Winters Here

Being a transplant from Nashville, TN to Great Falls, MT causes one to spend their first Winter season shoveling quite a bit of snow and then also exploring the local area for sites and sounds.

One place my family likes to drive to and walk about is the local park and duck pond. It is surprising to find that the geese and ducks have not gone. My husband says it is because they are so well fed by park patrons that they do not migrate. Our kids are a bit taken back at how aggressive these birds can be when it comes to dishing out the bread pieces or even some burrito shells we have had on hand.


One research I did says the following: "Families of geese do not break up after the breeding season, but form strong family units that migrate and winter together until they return to their breeding ground. Only then do the yearlings leave to start their own families. Indeed, some geese mate for life. Canada geese can live up to 30 years in the wild and longer in captivity."

Maybe the strong family relations are why Great Falls seems to have a very large number of geese these winter months!

One thing my husband did note which I had not noticed at all -- The loud and very aggressive sea gulls are definitely gone during the cold season.

A Beautiful Inspiration

Digital ID: 1161045. [Head of the Statue of Liberty on display in a park in Paris.]. Fernique, Albert -- Photographer. 1883


Note the two "life-size" replicas of the Statue of Liberty on either side of the full-size head.

I would love to travel to this park in Paris and sit for a long while marveling at the beauty of this sculpture/monument.

I got to travel to Washington DC and New York on my senior trip in high school over 20 years ago. If I could go back, I wish that I had better camera equipment than the latest Kodak disk camera (short run life and not very good with pictures) of that time period.

Also, my one regret on the whole trip was not getting to tour the Statue of Liberty. It was 1986 when she was undergoing repairs and cleaning. The tours were totally closed for the one day we spent in New York.

Maybe someday I will get back that way again, but for now it will just go on a mental "Would Like To Do List".

At the Duck Pond

The kids and I visited the duck pond at Gibson Park for the first time today with a bag of old buns. The boys had a splendid time and left saying they wanted to return really soon. I made that happen rather quickly as I loaded them and their dad up after dinner for the excursion repeated. I had found another loaf of bread in the bottom of the refrigerator under the meat crisper.







Also, I had been told that people come out on Wednesday evenings for music performances at the same park. The turn out was great and everyone enjoyed the music played.



We took Fred to see the flower garden and arch. He thought it was lovely but allergies and an asthma attack took over and coughing from Fred played along with the music. So much so that at times people were looking and staring like "what is this sick man doing out and about."







All in all it was a nice evening to be out and about. Next time, however; one will remember to check and see if the inhaler is packed along for the trip.

Paint Outing -- Great Falls, Gibson Park

My kids and I enjoyed a late afternoon / early evening out of doors to a visit to Gibson Park here in Great Falls, Montana. We were invited to attend with the Great Falls Arts Association to a "Paint Outing". It was well attended by some very nice people. They set up their space and painted, drawed, or took pictures of the scenery or whatever inspired them. Everything was very pleasant except for the mosquitos trying to make us their feast. My son, Wynston and I ran back home quickly for some spray to make the outing more enjoyable.





The scenery around the Flower Garden and Arch was lovely and here are some pictures of our activity. Hope you have something this light and fun to do this summer!