For South Carolina elementary school students Christy Risher, 8, and her younger sister, Kaylee, 6, Santa Claus traveled all the way from South Korea this year instead of the North Pole.
Their father, Capt. Josh Risher, gave his girls an early Christmas present, dressing as St. Nick for a performance at Windsor Elementary School in Columbia, South Carolina, on Wednesday. Only a day earlier, Risher returned home from a one-year deployment in South Korea, where he is a human resource officer in the Army. The surprise visit also came a day before Kaylee's sixth birthday on Thursday.
"It was definitely worth one more night... at my parents' house," Risher told NBC affiliate WIS-TV. "To be able to see the look at these girls faces today, just the utter look of shock and disbelief. It was great.”