In the spirit of the holiday season, we started something this year that we hope will become an annual tradition for us. Deck the Gingerbread was our firm's interpretation of gingerbread house design.

As with anything new, you never quite know how the first time you host an event like this will go. So we threw caution to the wind and invited employees, clients, and vendors to bring their children to our offices in Shockoe Bottom for a Saturday morning of community togetherness. With close to 100 people in attendance, it was festive house-decorating mayhem.

All ages showed up with their parents, from preschoolers to pre-teens, and each had the opportunity to decorate their own home. We were inspired by the kids' designs, full of color, cheer, and holiday spirit. One child built in a runway for Santa on the roof of his house, while another had water guns to keep candy robbers (like Hansel and Gretel) at bay. One kid even designed a house with a hole in the roof to look like an asteroid had hit it.

As evidenced by one five year-old with one hand full of M&M's and the other full of gum drops, we suspect more candy may have been eaten than was actually placed on the houses.

Many of the houses were designed with the express intent of being donated to local children's charities in hopes of spreading a little holiday joy. This week, we donated colorful gingerbread homes to The Faison School for Autism, SCAN, ChildSavers, and ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation.

For our first year of this event, we feel it was a rousing success. In future years, we hope to expand this event with greater opportunities to give to and sponsor the children's charities we have long championed.

We look forward to seeing you all at next year's event.