R-J readers’ favorite Santa photos

For the yuletide season, we asked readers to send us their favorite Santa photos. In return, we received just over 40 of the cutest, funniest, sweetest Santa photos imaginable. They were, in fact, so cute, funny and sweet that we had a hard time selecting just one for our prize.
But, in the end, it was the photo of 2-year-old Chandler Bloom’s encounter with Santa that most effectively melted our grinchy hearts. The photo was submitted by Las Vegas resident Pat Palamar, Chandler’s grandmother, who said it was taken in December 2002 in Orlando, Fla.