What does your family always do during the holidays — whether Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa?

Do you share dinner at the beach, cut down your own Christmas tree, play a particular game?

These stories make delightful reading, and The Advertiser Island Life section would like to tell as many of them as possible.

Send us a paragraph — two at most — about something that makes your family unique. We'll publish these in December. Mark it "Traditions" and e-mail to islandlife@honoluluadvertiser.com; mail to Island Life, Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; or fax 525-8055.

— Advertiser Staff

A CHOCOLATE MACADAMIA BIRTHDAY

A confection that for many characterizes the Islands is having a birthday. It's the chocolate-covered macadamia nut, invented 80 years ago by Ellen Dye Candies in Honolulu and perfected for large-scale production with a secret chocolate formula developed by the late Mamoru Takitani, a Mauian who bought Ellen Dye and renamed it Hawaiian Host Chocolates in 1960. Hawaiian Host is running a trivia contest right now at www.hawaiianhost80.com, and one lucky entrant will win a trip to Las Vegas (50 others will get boxes of chocolates). Go to the Web site to enter. Hawaiian Host is the largest Hawai'i producer of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.

FINAL WORD

"I feel so much younger and stronger. My two older girls are like, 'Come on, Mom. Shake it! You could win this thing!' "

Marie Osmond | the "Classy Yet Sassy" contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars"