RICHLAND TOWNSHIP -- It's that time of the year, with Christmas approaching and people going to the mall to get their picture with Santa.
On Tuesday at The Johnstown Galleria in Richland Township, Santa had a big surprise for one woman, ahead of Christmas Day.
Walking to meet Santa is one of the joys of being a little kid during Christmastime.
"Do you have teeth? Can I see them in a smile? There you go. That's great,” Roger Kerekes says to a child sitting on Santa’s lap. “One more time, big smile. Woohoo!"
Kerekes is the owner of Burns Photography. He’s the one that captures that joy from the kids.
"It's nice to see the children come in, visit Santa, and for that little moment, add a little bit of happiness in their lives," Kerekes said.
Kerekes has been taking photos of kids and Santa at the mall for 14 years, and he's captured a lot over the years, including engagements and babies.
"Our record for babies is one day old,” Kerekes said. “This year, we had a boy come in with a photo of a sonogram, but we don't count that. The one-day-old's our record. And also we do the pets and other things like that."
You're never too old to sit on Santa’s lap and answer his big question.
"Now what do you want for Christmas?” Santa asked.
“My boyfriend to come home from the military," said Kylie Debias.
All Debias wanted for Christmas was for her boyfriend to come home from the military.
Little did she know, her boyfriend, Army Pvt. Zachary Gaudette, was behind her the whole time.
"And there he gave a great smile,” Kerekes said, showing the final photo. “We showed it to them. We showed it full screen. When she saw that, she let out the yelling."
When Debias saw her boyfriend, she screamed and jumped in his arms.
"It was priceless, to be honest,” Gaudette said. “It definitely made it worth it. It made it worth the wait. It's been hard not trying to talk to her for the past two days while I had my cellphone."
For the past four and a half months, he's been in Fort Benning, Georgia, for training.
And when he got a 17-day leave, he knew exactly how he wanted to surprise his family and girlfriend.
A month of planning and some sneaky movement behind the window led to Kylie's Christmas wish coming true.
"Thank all our men and women serving in the military,” Kerekes said. “Glad they're able to come home for Christmas."
"I hope everyone has a safe Christmas,” Gaudette said. “All my other service members that (are) coming home, please be safe. Don't do anything stupid and God bless the USA."
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