Christmas ... even in July

"Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling." - Edna Ferber

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas in July by hosting a little cookout at our house.

Before you start with the whole, it's-too-soon blah blah blah negativity, please understand:
1. I don't care
2. I agree

I don't care if you don't like my party theme. It's okay to stop reading this post right now. We can still be friends.

I agree Christmas is over commercialized and retailers try to get in our pockets way too early and Thanksgiving gets completely overlooked. I've talked about this before.

I've also shared that my family and I have a longstanding tradition of celebrating Christmas in July. This year, we decided to open the doors and invite friends to share in the celebrations with us.

It was definitely July. A cranky thunderstorm Saturday had strewn leaves about, tossed our patio chairs and left the yard soaked. It rained and rumbled Sunday morning too, making it a sweaty-wool-blanket kind of horrible humidity. And when the summer sun shone in the afternoon just before guests arrived, temps crept up toward 90 and a wind kicked up.

Stupid thunderstorm tried to kill my tomato plants. Stupid storm.

Not a cooling wind. It was the kind of wind that pushes the thick air directly into your lungs in order to better scorch them.

It was perfect cookout weather ... if you like to barbecue in a freaking oven.

That was the July part of Christmas in July. Despite the heat - which eventually gave way to cool temps by nightfall - there were also some of the better aspects of July: the long summer evening, teens playing capture the flag and lawn Twister, eating hot dogs off paper plates while sitting on a blanket in the grass.

The Christmas part included twinkle lights adorning the deck rails and festive holiday music playing. Inside, we had a small white tree in the kitchen sporting small stockings filled with school supplies and candy (school starts here Thursday) and glittery star ornaments for the kids to take home.

Sweet treats normally savored in December.

A little tree in the living room and a few homemade hostess gifts to send home with guests.

I'll tell you how to make these fun, easy vinyl letter canvases in another post. Promise.

In the spirit of giving, guests brought dog and cat treats to be donated to the local animal shelter.

It wasn't the biggest party we've ever had. Nor was it the most elaborate endeavor. But it was fun and festive and good to share with friends.

Christmas in July has never ruined "real" Christmas for us. This little sneak of festivity in no way detracts from the big one in December.

It was the easy, obligation-free version of Christmas: simple gratitude for the good people in our lives; the blissful tickle of tastes, sounds and aromas that trigger happy sense memories; sharing and caring for no other reason than the simple desire to do so; a reminder that God's love shines all year and in every season.

That's why we celebrate a little bit of Christmas in July.

"Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas." - Dale Evans