here's nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: in a season full of holiday wishes -- >> oh, my gosh! daddy! >> reporter: -- this year is bringing some extra special delivery, with tens of thousands of troops returning home, 10-year-old amber mackey in iowa is one of many kids -- >> you miss me? just a little? >> reporter: -- getting the gift they've been dreaming of. >> dad. >> your dad? >> reporter: for the kids, the hugs are like holiday miracles. but, for the troops, they've become covert operations. >> my heart is -- >> reporter: in california, 4-year-old stephanie randall was at her dance recital when her dad brett stole the show. >> daddy! >> reporter: it wasn't just stephanie who was shocked. mom jennifer had no idea either. >> hi, baby. >> reporter: the homecoming surprise has become one of the most popular presents this year. it can take weeks to plan and pull off, but even santa couldn't do it better. >> i was so shocked. it's the best christmas ever right now. >> reporter: of course, after months away from home, the moments are just as special for the men and women in unif

kristen dahlgren, nbc news, los angeles. >> can't top that. we'll say that's it for "nbc nightly news" for this christmas eve. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." and then right back here tomorrow evening. merry christmas, everyone. and good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

here is nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> reporter: in a year of protests -- >> we will not go! >> reporter: -- and unrest, filmmakers look to give us an escape. ♪ with the return to the past, and glimpse back at the golden age of hollywood. >> forget marilyn monroe. forget hollywood. >> reporter: from "my week with marilyn," a romantic slice of the screen siren's heyday, to the tree of life which transports movie grgoers inside life in the '50s. >> it is the imagination that things were clearer and simpler in the past. >> reporter: take the artist, shot in black and white, it is a silent film with the unmistakable aura of a bygone hollywood era. perhaps no film captures that yearning for the past like woody allen's "midnight in paris". >> it is a fantasy. >> i'm in love with you. >> reporter: where a modern day writer travels back in time to spend evenings with the greats like ernest hemingway and f. scott fitzgerald. >> it is the movie of the year that encapsulates all of the nostalgia, all that longing for some time when things were more intense, more adventurous, more exci

kristen dahlgren, nbc news. >>> there is more ahead on "today in the bay." coming up -- >> anybody can take a difference. anybody can do this. >> the resurgencef monarch butterflies and how you can help in keeping them alive. [ female announcer ] holiday plus cookies plus memories pillsbury holiday star cookies start with pillsbury cookie dough easy. then add my own favorite frosting and sprinkles. just three ingredients to sweet memories. holiday ideas made easy. mmm... pillsbury crescent wrapped brie just unroll, wrap the brie and bake. it's so easy. now this might even impress aunt martha. pillsbury crescent wrapped brie. holiday ideas made easy. you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well she's a guy, so... [ male announcer ] another reason more people stay with state farm. get to a bett

as nbc's kristen dahlgren reports, the resemblance is uncanny. >> reporter: the rare photos captured little dani lynn and dad larry birkhead, but for many when they look at the pictures, all they can see is their mother, anna nicole smith. >> she has the same full lips, the big round eyes, and even the eyebrows that are very similar to her mother, anna nicole. rirchlg the 5-year-old is becoming a spitting image of her model mom who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2007. just five months after dani lynn was born. her first months were lived in the spotlight, the subject of a bitter paternity battle, but since winning custody, birkhead has kept his daughter mostly out of the media glare. the two were on "today" last year as dani lynn slept, birkhead talked about raising her away from hollywood. >> you don't see her nearly as much as you do other celebrity children, and that's probably one of the reasons why we travel back to kentucky and kind of a safe haven. >> reporter: anna nicole smith lived her life in front of the camera, from "playboy" to marrying a billionaire, and the hi

kristen dahlgren has the details. >> good morning. this could have been a very different holiday for sam schmidt's family but for his doctor, holding on to hope, and sam's incredible will to live. with a few tiny steps, sam schmidt might just make you believe in holiday miracles. a few weeks ago that smile was something his family thought they would never see again. the fun-loving 21-year-old arizona state business major was in a devastating five-car pile-up in october. he survived but barely. >> he didn't have any response in a very deep coma. >> reporter: sam had a traumatic brain aneurysm. his odds of survival were slim. his family thought what they would do if they had to take him off life support. >> they didn't talk to us about donating his organs directly, but john and i, knowing sam, he would want to help other people if he was actually not going to be with us. >> reporter: but his doctor wasn't quite ready to declare sam brain dead. >> i said let's get one more mri scan. >> reporter: based on what he saw, he told the family t

nbc's kristen dahlgren is in los angeles with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. the daughter of the late pop star has just signed on to star in her first movie. she tells ellen that acting has always been her dream. >> and how early on did you know you wanted to act? >> when i was really little, because my dad was in, like the movie "moon walker" and i knew he could sing like really well but i didn't know he could act. i saw that and i'm like, wow. i want to be just like him. >> paris jackson, poised and mature sitting down with talk show host ellen degeneres. it was just two and a half years ago that the public first met the pop star's daughter. >> ever since i was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. >> reporter: a very public introduction for a girl who had lived most of her life under a mask. >> but do you remember wearing a mask going, this is kind of weird? >> yeah. i'm like, this is stupid. why am i wearing a mask? >> right. >> but, yeah. i kind of realized the older i got he only tried

kristen dahlgren has the details. good morning. >> good morning. this could have been a very different holiday for sam schmidt's family but for his doctor, holding on to hope, and sam's incredible will to live. with a few tiny steps, sam schmidt might just make you believe in holiday miracles. a few weeks ago that smile was something his family thought they would never see again. the fun-loving 21-year-old arizona state business major was in a devastating five-car pile-up in october. he survived but barely. >> he didn't have any response in a very deep coma. >> reporter: sam had a traumatic brain aneurysm. his odds of survival were slim. his family thought what they would do if they had to take him off life support. >> they didn't talk to us about donating his organs directly, but john and i, knowing sam, he would want to help other people if he was actually not going to be with us. >> reporter: but his doctor wasn't quite ready to declare sam brain dead. >> i said let's get one more mri scan. >> reporter: based on what he saw, he told the family t

dahlgren has more from los angeles for us. this his daughter, holding on to hope and sam's incredible will to live. >> reporter: with a few tiny step -- that smeel was something his family thought they would never see again. the arizona state business major was in a devastating five-car pile up in eighoctober. he survived, but barely. he had a brain aneurism and his odds of survival were slim and his family thought about what they would do if they had to take him off life support. >> hay never talked to us about donating his records directly, b but. >> >> his dr. wasn't write ready to declare brain dead. >> i said let's get one more mr icann. >> based on what he saw he told the family to give it one more week and that's when sam took matters that's's huge thing. it means that you can hear and it means you can interpret what you're hearing. >> sam remembers what he saw when he opened his eyes in the hospital. ? it was my mom, john -- and. >> and he hasn't looked back since. for one day. >> he left the hospital briefly to spend