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Santa Claus in Studio 1A.

This morning on TODAY, Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb brought Mr. Claus into Studio 1A to spread Christmas cheer. "We decided every time we had a sad or grumpy story," Hoda explained, "we were going to have one shot of Santa."

"The happiest guy on the planet!" Kathie Lee chimed in.

TODAY.com was backstage, and we can attest: There was not an iota of bah humbug about this Kris Kringle. In fact, he didn't break character once, not even when the cameras stopped rolling. He merrily laughed, "Ho ho ho," to the stage managers and jingled his tambourine for the production assistants.  

While some Santas can be scary, ours was infectiously jolly. He had a real beard, a full belly, and naturally rosy red cheeks... say, did Kathie Lee and Hoda find the real Santa Claus?

This one SAID he came uptown from Macy's, but we suspect (as does Hoda's niece, Hannah, who appeared with him on the show) that he came from somewhere considerably farther north! 

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Santa Claus on the 4th hour of TODAY with Hoda and her niece Hannah.

Can't get enough of Mr. Claus? Here are some more Santa stories:

• Chimney design ‘perfect fit’ for Santa
• Should Santa have a real beard? One store says no
• Secret Santas pay strangers’ layaway bills at Kmart

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Kevin Tibbles puts his hooves on for the holidays

This year, NBC News’ Kevin Tibbles was immortalized by one Minnesota family — as a reindeer in their hilarious annual Christmas card. 

“Where in the world is Matt Lauer while I’m doing this?” Kevin quipped while in his costume.

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Mom Sue Johnson has been getting her family dressed up in wacky costumes — from toy soldiers and snowmen to Christmas lights — for more than 20 years. How does she come up with the ideas?

“Sometimes they come to me in dreams,” she told Kevin. “Or, my husband refers to them as nightmares.”

Whether the experience was a dream or a nightmare for Kevin, we don’t know. But he couldn’t escape some good-natured ribbing from the anchors.

“Kevin just may have just crossed the line when it came to reporter involvement,” Ann said, while Carl Quintanilla added, “Tibbles never looked better.”

Take a look at some more of the Johnson family’s Christmas card photos:

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Have you gotten into the holiday spirit? TODAY's Hoda Kotb has.

Yesterday, Hoda decided to finally buy and put up her Christmas tree. After finding the perfect spot for it in her home, Hoda tweeted a picture, saying "My tree is kinda short and fat.... What do u think?"

Hoda Kotb

Hoda's Christmas tree

Apparently, Hoda didn't expect her tree to turn out this way. During this morning's chat, she revealed that she didn't unwrap it till she got home. She thinks it "should have heels," to give it some height.

Have you bought and put up your Christmas tree? How does yours look? Tell us in the comments, and send your photos here and we might post them on KLGandHoda.com.

More: Anchors don ugly Christmas sweaters: Which was worst?

Whatsup, ladies? Kathie Lee and Hoda get a 'gift rap'

Send in photos of your worst holiday presents

'Tis the season ... for ugly Christmas sweaters!

Once an endearing gift from a well-meaning grandma, hideous jumpers have become a fad, spawning booming businesses, Facebook groups and sweater parties. 

Savannah picked out some especially gnarly knits for our anchors and a few guests (Brian Williams and Matt Damon got roped in, as well as our crew and the entire control room). Check out the pics below and vote in our poll: Whose sweater is the ugliest?

Upload your own photos of ugly Christmas sweaters. TODAY.com posted some of the worst offenders. 

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Matt, Al, Savannah and Natalie share the gifts that got away – those presents that they hoped and wished for growing up, but Santa never delivered.

Check out the video above!

Related stories: 
TODAY anchors' Christmas traditions
TODAY anchors reveal favorite gifts to give
TODAY anchors tell of favorite gifts to get

By Mike Leonard

What if the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it? Does it make a sound? 

That’s a stupid statement because philosophically rhetorical questions start arguments and I’m sick of all the people arguing these days. It’s also dumb because Rockefeller Center Christmas trees don’t grow in forests. They grow in people’s yards. Normal, everyday people. The Jane Does and Joe Blows of the world. (I once did a story on a real guy named Joe Blow, but won’t get into that now.)

Back to the yards: Side yards. Front yards. Big yards with lots of space for those Norway Spruces (the trees of choice) to grow evenly in all directions. Forests are great for hiking, camping and getting spooked by shadows, noises and the kinds of animals that don’t wear collars. Forests are not great, however, for growing symmetrical trees that eventually require viewing from all angles. Cramped space plus blocked light equals the tree equivalent of a guy with a bad mullet. 

I know all of this because no other reporter has seen the Rockefeller Center Christmas trees as I have seen them ... in their natural state before the guys with chain saws arrived. Why was I given this exclusive, journalistic access?

Because nobody else wanted it. 

Trees can’t talk. And sometimes tree owners don’t want to talk except for the guy a few years back who never STOPPED talking.

So, for the last two decades the job of profiling the people who donate their trees to Rockefeller Center has been mine and mine alone. It’s been a burden but also a joy because where else on TV can a regular Joe take a bow? (In this year’s story it’s a regular Nancy). I’ve always believed that every single person out there has something worthwhile to say.

Watch this story about the origin of this year's tree and see if you agree.