Greetings and welcome to the 2007 edition of the Bicoy Beacon - our annual holiday missive that updates friends and family as to the goings-on in our lives over the last year. If you're not "friends" or "family," then I'm sure you'd be far more interested watching paint dry (seriously, if you're bored follow the link to a webcam watching paint dry).
I'm sure you've heard the expression, "It's not worth the paper it's printed on." Well, whomever said that apparently was referring to the printed version of the Bicoy Beacon. My husband Bret says we need to help Al Gore save the planet and earn another Nobel Prize, so we've decided to save a few trees and put our annual family newsletter on the internet (besides, that's probably why Al invented the darn thing in the first place).
So please sit back, drink a heavily caffeinated beverage, and try to read on. Oh, and I almost forgot - Mele Kalikimaka!
Cari & Bret Bicoy
I suppose the best place to begin is with our eldest child. I'm afraid to say that our eldest is getting all the more "elder" every year. Believe it or not, Alyssa is about to turn 17 years old. Yes that's 17, as in the number of gray hairs that spring out of my husband's head every time our home phone rings and a boy is on the line. It's a good thing she has her own cell phone or Bret's head would be completely white. Believe it or not, Alyssa will be a senior in high school next fall! Yes, a senior. As in almost in college. You know, an adult. Eligible to vote. Old enough to drive a car. No, we're not feeling old one bit, not us.
Speaking of mobile phones, we've finally entered the modern world and signed up for a family text messaging plan. Naturally, no matter what restaurant we're at, you can count on Alyssa to be texting back and forth with her friends. Speaking of restaurants, if you happen to be at Red Robin in Las Vegas, you might just be ordering off a menu Alyssa helped to design. As a part of her graphic design class, she was part of a team which created new menus for Red Robin, the chain of restaurants famous for their incredible top quality beef burgers. One of the local managers liked it so much that he decided to use it in his store! Of course, the great irony is that after reading Fast Food Nation, Alyssa has become a vegetarian!
If you've managed to read this far, then you must be just like our son David - someone who will read absolutely anything. David is in the fifth grade and continues to be in the Gifted and Talented Program because he devours every book he encounters. He's finished the Harry Potter series, the Maximum Ride series, the Fable Haven series, the Alex Rider series, and too many others to remember. I'm not sure if you're familiar with these books, but some of them run more than 700 pages! If you ever stop by our house, you're sure to find David curled up on the couch, just like his cat, reading a really big book.
When he's not reading, David is creating. This young man loves to come up with things that are uniquely his own. He has designed a bunch of new superheroes on his trusty sketch pad like PowerBoy who can turn into a solid, liquid or gas (although Bret doesn't understand why that makes someone super, saying a Bicoy does that in the bathroom every day). David doesn't like to be called "Dave," but he started his own cartoon company, "Davetoons," and completely draws his own comic books. He said he'd be glad to share them with you, for only $2.50 an issue.
Bret Jr. is in the third grade and was also accepted into the Gifted and Talented Program like his older brother. Bretty is Mr. Social in school, constantly working the playground like a little politician in training. He spends so much time talking to other kids that the guidance counselors selected him to be a "Peer Mediator." It's Bretty's job to walk around the school in the morning and help break up any arguments or disputes between his classmates. Of course, he also isn't shy about using all his connections to his own advantage. Bretty is one of those kids who seems to always convince a classmate to take the apple I packed for him in exchange for their bag of chips!
Bretty is also our one child who shares Bret's and my passion for football. Of course, being the true mediator, he chooses to be neither a Dallas Cowboys or Green Bay Packers fan. Instead, Bretty has decided that the Atlanta Falcons are his team (red is his favorite color). And like the Falcons, apparently Bretty was beaten up pretty good playing football this season. A tough tackle in the front yard led to a broken clavicle. Yeah, it looks ugly, but he loved being the center of attention while wearing his sling!
Our wonderful youngest son, Kekoa, is in the second grade and finally old enough to begin reading for fun. This young man, however, decided that he needs to read not for fun but because, as he says, "I want to learn everything." The other night I saw him at bedtime reading a book on the U.S. Presidents and then in the morning he was reading another a book on Benjamin Franklin. Kekoa likes to learn in the most unusual of ways. Every morning he burns off a little energy by running in circles in the house (hey, don't we all?). But with Kekoa, he doesn't want to just run. He wants me to test him on his spelling words as he runs around the kitchen table. He's doing well, so I guess it works for him!
Kekoa is also a very determined little boy in whatever he does. Whether it be running as long as he can (he once ran back and forth between two building in a park for half an hour just because he felt like it), or doing a thousand jumping jacks just to see if he could, Kekoa is the epitome of perserverence. He will take on a difficult puzzle that his older siblings could probably solve, but none of them is as willing as Kekoa to just keep going until he's completed every bit of it. His Dad is exactly the same way, except substitute the word "puzzle" with the words "bucket of fried chicken."
Nalani started kindergarten this year and is absolutely loving it. She is devouring (to keep the bad analogy going) every bit of education that comes her way. Every night she reads to me using the "Hooked on Phonics" system we bought for her brothers and she is moving through the levels at a remarkable pace. Nalani has announced that when she grows up she wants to be a "drawer." At first we were a bit confused as to why our daughter wanted to be a piece of furniture until she explained that she loves to draw pictures. So a grown-up who draws pictures must be a "draw-er." Come on, Mom, Duh?! 
For some reason, Nalani is also an apple fanatic. This little girl eats an apple each and every day, and sometimes more than one. We told our kids years ago that they can have fruit or veggies anytime they want, day or night, and Nalani certainly takes advantage of that. We think that's why she wants to become a teacher. Nalani often sets up her own classroom in our playroom upstairs with Malia as her student. That is, of course, when she's not poking her little sister as she falls asleep in the most unusual of places.
In case you haven't noticed, many of the pictures we've used thus far were the kids' school portraits. Since Malia isn't even in elementary school yet, we don't have a posed picture of her. And as you can see, often the pictures we do have of Malia are of her out cold in some strange position. And when we try to take a nice picture of our own, she doesn't like to pose. Of all our kids, Malia is by far the most stubborn. She's not going to be a trained dog and smile just because Mom's trying to take her picture.
Malia does go to pre-school two days a week and has lots of fun there. She loves crafts but is especially fond of cooking. She is constantly asking me if she can help out in the kitchen and always wants to turn the television to a "cooking show" (as she calls them). Malia has a whole assortment of play foods and kitchen supplies and she'll happily make you a meal if you ever drop by. She's sitting next to me as I write this and says I'm supposed to tell everyone that she's going to be an artist (and not a chef, interestingly) when she grows up. I hope she becomes a very famous artist, because then perhaps we can frame some of the walls of our house and get rich selling her doodles that cover them.
As much joy as we've experienced with our children, this was also a very difficult year for our extended family. As many of you know, this summer we lost my not quite two year-old niece Ellie Zaidel. She was a beautiful little girl who will be forever missed. Visit the website Ellie's Fund to see some pictures of this wonderful child. What really broke my heart is that of our six children, five of them had never even met their cousin Ellie until her funeral. While we were in Green Bay with the Hansen family during most of July, we were overwhelmed by the incredible outpouring of friendship and love the entire community showered upon our entire extended family. People who didn't even know Ellie shared in our grief. It was somewhere in the midst of all that sadness and compassion that Bret and I realized we needed to make a change. We wanted to be closer to our family and friends in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
One of the great things about Las Vegas is that it is a place where you can do whatever you want to do. As long as your actions don't negatively impact my life, nobody cares and everything's basically fair game. While that independent frontier spirit can be very appealing, inherent in that attitude is the fundamental reality that in Las Vegas, people overwhelmingly look out only for number one. It was so evident when we were back in Green Bay during a time of tragedy that Las Vegas lacks a spirit of community. While I have developed some wonderful friendships with a handful of terrific ladies over the last few years, I am constantly amazed at how many of them come and go - often longing for a better quality of life.
And so earlier this year, Bret and I quietly began making plans to leave Las Vegas. We desperately wanted to find a place where our children would feel safe and we could be surrounded by family and friends. We longed to be embraced in a way we haven't felt since we left the Midwest. So during our children's school break, before the coldest part of winter arrives, we are going to be relocating back to Wisconsin. We've waited long enough. The time has come for us to return home. It may be a financial sacrifice, but we know that we'll more than make up for it with the rewards of being near the people we love.
And yes, not that it was ever in doubt, but my warm-blooded husband from Hawaii must really, really love me to agree to move back to the land of the frozen tundra. Of course, in return, Bret did say that I am forever forbidden from uttering the words "I have a headache" ever again.
So if you happen to be in Wisconsin, I hope you'll welcome us home. Oh, and before I forget, I've already started the Green Bay Women's Book Club based upon the book club I organized in Las Vegas for the last three years. If you're a woman looking for friendship and lots of good conversation one night a month, I hope you'll sign up and join me. I figure we can always use a nice warm cup of coffee on a cold Midwestern night.
It may be winter in Wisconsin, but there's an old line from a movie that goes something like this: "When a place touches your heart the wind never blow so cold again."
We hope your life is as blessed as is ours.
Cari :)
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