Perhaps no time of year is more tradition-bound than this one. And, though many follow the conventions of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other year-end holidays, there couldn’t be a wider diversity in the “just us” additions made by each family.

We asked our readers, and our staff, to tell us about the traditions without which, for them, it just wouldn’t be the holidays.

— Advertiser Staff

BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

December 1986. My son was 7 months old, and it was his first Christmas. Some of the boxes were bigger than him. The wrapping paper intrigued him, (and) Christopher crept closer to the colorful mess. He looked so cute with his face peeking out from the colorful wrapping paper, and that's when the lightbulb went off. He was our Best Christmas Present! So the tradition was born to take a picture of Mom's Best Christmas Present. Over the next two years, two more Best Christmas Presents, Tiffany and Jonathan, were added. The presents got smaller as they got older. ... Creativity comes into play now when staging our photo sessions. In my heart and mind, they will always by My Best Christmas Presents EVER!

— Jeannie Kutsunai, Kailua, Kona

CHIP 'N' DALE TURN 29

Our first Christmas, 1978, with very limited funds, my husband and I went to Longs Drugs and saw these adorable Chip 'n' Dale ornaments for 59 cents each. They were made of plastic, had stickers for eyes and some unknown fabric that resembled fur glued to their bodies. Frankly, they looked like 59-cent ornaments, but we both loved them. This will be our 29th Christmas with Chip 'n' Dale on the tree. Although a little tattered and worn, these 59-cent ornaments of long ago continue to be our favorite and most treasured.

— Carol K.F. Kita, 'Aiea

KALIHI-STYLE TURKEY

As I sit at my computer this morning, wonderful Thanksgiving smells are wafting from the kitchen, bringing into fond remembrance the familiar and comforting traditions of my childhood. I am again at Kam Homes in Kalihi, and my mom has gotten up early to prepare the turkey complete with her simple yet incredibly delicious stuffing and gravy. No fancy croutons, sausage, celery, dried fruits or nuts and twigs. It is the simplicity of her recipe that makes it so delicious and enduring. Today is also her 85th birthday. For that, we are especially thankful — her good health, long life and most of all, the love she puts into her 'ono turkey/ stuffing/gravy.

— Rosina Moanauli Valencia, Mililani

DOZENS OF GIFT CARDS BECOME A GAME

Prior to Christmas Eve, my 14-year-old and I go around to all the local establishments that offer gift cards. We purchase $5 gift cards from about 30 places. ... I wrap and number (these) and pile them on the table. Then, on Christmas Eve, we play quick-moving games like Bingo or Left Center Right, winning prizes. Winners can "steal" another family member's gift or pick a number that coincides with a new gift. What a fun, eventful and affordable tradition this has become in our home.

— Denise DeNardi, Mililani

REDISTRIBUTING EXCESS LOOT

Regifting can be fun when it's turned into a holiday lucky-number party give-away. Here's what we do with good-but-unwanted excess: wrap, label with numbers (we use dual ticket stubs, one on the "gift," the other distributed to family members) then call out the numbers after dessert. We usually have enough loot so everyone gets five or more items. Folks can swap, barter or simply give away the stuff. The rule: Nothing remains.

— Wayne Harada, Advertiser entertainment writer

HOT COCOA, CHEESE TOAST

Our North Carolina family's tradition: HOT CHOCOLATE (in Santa mugs) and CHEESE TOAST!!! On Christmas morning. After the stockings, but before the presents.

— Elizabeth House, Advertiser page designer

A TREE OF MEMORIES FROM AROUND WORLD

We are a military family and collect ornaments all year long that represent people, places or events from the many places we have lived and visited over our 20-plus years of service. Each year as we decorate our tree, we reminisce about each ornament: where we got it, the story behind it. The ornaments depict our marriage, the birth of our children, their activities, the (places) where we lived and visited, graduations, weddings, wars, separations and togetherness. We have handmade ornaments from friends, aunts, grandmas and grandpas, Korean knotwork (maedeup), carved and ceramic ornaments from several European countries, doves of peace, American flags, soccer balls and baseball bats, ballet slippers and stars. Our tree is a history of our military life. As we hang each ornament on the tree, we laugh and remember, and sometimes cry. We were "talking story" and didn't even know it! This year we happily add our aloha ornaments representing the 'aina and 'ohana of our new home in Hawai'i.

— Mary K. Ward, Honolulu

BUTTERHORNS LIKE GRANDMA MADE

When Mrs. G. starts her baking marathon, my daughters and I know that the holidays are here. A patina of flour and sugar coats kitchen counters and the floor as she churns out five different types of cookies, plus Texas hash, muddy buddies and cranberry jelly. But all this is just a prelude to the signature treat of the season: butterhorn cookies. These crescent-roll pastries — rich with butter, filled with cinnamon and sugar and topped with glaze — have become a potent tradition reminding us of the power of family. Mrs. G thinks of her mother, who made the butterhorns in the same blue bowl Mrs. G uses today, and they will remind my daughters of their own mother, who stood them on stools so they could see the counters covered with dough.

— Mike Gordon, Advertiser features writer

GIVING GIFTS MINUS THE GUESSING GAME

Sometimes the best traditions are established when you give up on tradition. According to tradition, spouses are supposed to instinctively select just the right gift. But after several holidays during which our presents to each other seemed to miss the mark, my husband and I gave up on guessing. Now, we tell each other exactly what we want, then we take each other shopping for it followed by an afternoon of rare unstructured time together: walking the mall holding hands, singing along to Christmas carols, lingering over lunch or afternoon pupu.

— Wanda A. Adams, Advertiser Taste and Travel editor

MUM'S HAND-KNIT STOCKINGS NOW SPAN THE GLOBE

Back in the day, my mother — happiest when hands were busy — knit Christmas stockings for each member of the family. As the family grew, more stockings appeared, in the exact same red design with each individual's name lovingly knit into the front, such as "Little Harry" to sort him from his uncle "Big Harry." No two stockings came out the same, but my husband — it's generally agreed — got the best deal: one of such dimensions that it's difficult to imagine a human foot of this size. Moreover, the stocking (conveniently, for him) stretches larger every year. Of course, his name is on it, so no one gets to borrow. My family's many odd-shaped stockings on Christmas morning connect us across the globe.

— Chris Oliver, Advertiser staff writer

THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS DAY REUNION

Each Christmas Day, the Yuen clan — a core of about 50 to 60, including occasional guests — gathers at Auntie Helen's house in Nu'uanu for a huge potluck dinner to catch up with each other and see how much the littlest cousins have grown. This year, there is great happiness — twins are born in the Wung family! — and great sadness — our dear Auntie Alice recently died.

— Debra Yuen, TGIF editor

A ZILLION LIGHTS AND AN INFLATABLE SNOWMAN

Since we moved to 'Ewa Beach, my family has been participating in a yearly tradition our neighbors created — lighting up every single house on our block. Each year, my family takes out the boxes, dusts off the fake Christmas tree, untangles the lights and gets the ladders. Lights are hung on the roof and the decorated Christmas tree is placed on our porch (yes; a tree outside). And it wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't put the gigantic 9-foot inflatable snowman from Kmart out on the lawn. When my sister looks out her second-story window, she sees nothing but the top of a snowman's hat. It's the price we pay to spread a little Christmas cheer to the passing crowds visiting one of the brightest streets on O'ahu.

— Joe Guinto, Advertiser page designer

DAD'S SIGNATURE DESSERT IS ESSENTIAL

It would not be Christmas at the Serrano household without my dad's kakanin, a Filipino dessert. His signature dish is basically a mixture of mochi rice, coconut milk and brown sugar cut into squares of gooey goodness. He learned how to make this dessert back in the '70s when he was a cook in the U.S. Navy. His shipmate, also a Filipino cook, made it once, and my dad loved it. He asked for the recipe, then tweaked it to make the dish his own. He's been making it every year since. When the sweet, warm aroma permeates the entire house, we know it's time to celebrate.

— Zenaida Serrano, Advertiser staff writer

SANTA'S STRATEGY FOR EXTRA SHUTEYE

When I was a little girl, I was always the first in my family of nine to wake in the early hours of Christmas morning, tiptoeing downstairs to peek at the bumps in the blanket covering all the presents under the tree. It looked like a tiny hillside town with a fresh layer of snow. I would wait for hours for the rest of the family to rise. Then when I was a young mother, an enterprising Santa changed the tradition, and keiki would awaken to find their stockings left at the foot of their beds. Stockings usually held a movie with the VCR at the ready, affording a few extra hours of grownup shut-eye. (You have to have been a fox to outfox one.)

— Mary Kaye Ritz, Advertiser assistant editor

AN 8-FOOT TREE, AND SOMETIMES EVEN A FIRE

Thanksgiving in our home marks a time for the big debate: Christmas tree or no Christmas tree? Our pitched roof and two-story windows scream for a tall tree. For years, we had a 15-footer. But this became increasingly unmanageable, especially when there were no kids left to help. Now we're down to an 8-footer. Yet my husband still places 1,200 lights on the tree, and I hang hundreds of treasured ornaments, each imbued with its own memory. We spend part of each evening enjoying our tree while listening to Christmas music. Whenever it's cool enough (not impossible in upper Nu'uanu) we light a fire in the fireplace. Perfect!

— Paula Rath, Advertiser fashion writer

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