Christmas is for the kids, as our annual compilation of letters to Santa Claus always points out. You can feel the excitment within their own misspelled words.

Cadyn, a student in Becky Lefler's second-grade class in Tabiona, wants a saddle and a cowboy hat. (That sounds doable.)

Jessyn, a third-grader in Ms. Richens' class at Lapoint Elementary, wants a cell phone “so if someone breaks in are (sic) house I could call the police.” She also wants a poodle and a diamond. (Santa feels the recession too. The diamond might be a tough one.)

Gentry, a classmate of Jessyn's, also has expensive tastes. He wants a Lamborghini, a Corvette, a Viper, an Ipod and all sorts of video-game systems. (Last time we checked, you had to be older than elementary-school age to get a driver's license.)

But not all of the students who wrote this year recited a “laundry list” of toys in their letters.

Stephany, a second-grader in Mrs. Cook's class at East Elementary, wants Santa to give the homeless and “people who don't have money” more presents than rich people.

And departing from the norm, Tate, a first-grader in Mrs. Jenkins' class at Duchesne Elementary, admitted that he is bad sometimes. He says he “caught” Santa last year. (Christmas must be fun around his house.)

And so it goes, with letters from students in Duchesne and western Uintah counties, representing more than 40 classrooms.

We hope you enjoy this year's compilation of Santa letters, related to the Uintah Basin Standard in their own words (and grammar). And we appreciate the teachers from local elementary schools for participating and sending us the letters in a timely fashion.

As promised, we have forwarded all of the letters to the North Pole. Hopefully, Santa can fulfill at least some of the desires of these earnest and excited schoolchildren.

The Santa letters can be found on our Electronic Edition section of the newspaper's Web site, www.ubstandard.com. For the print version, pick up a copy of the Dec. 22 issue of the Uintah Basin Standard, where you will find the letters in Section C.