The first half of the month was marked by Michael’s jury duty on a murder trial. We will save those stories for another time, but there were long days at the courthouse and lots of grandparent time for Harvey, as Mike Sr. and Georgann were lifesavers, watching Harvey a few days/week.
Immediately following jury duty, Sarah went back to Peru during the week of the 18th. While Lima was lovely and she got to see more of the city, the real highlight of her trip was flying business class and regaining her status with United lol.
Those were the big things that took up 3 weeks of the month, but we fit some fun and catching up with friends in where we could. We celebrated our friends Matt and Zia at their wedding, caught up with some of Michael’s high school friends and their kids once at the beginning of the month and again during LDW, spent a Sunday with Brian, Chelsea, and Elaine, and fit in two birthday celebrations for Elaine’s 3rd birthday(8/23) and Georgann’s XXth birthday (8/27).
We had a beautiful and relaxing end of the month over LDW, but it’s full speed ahead as we enter active fall season. Hope everyone had a great summer and has an even better fall.
July was action packed. We had flash floods and days that felt like we were living in a sauna. Through that, we went on a road trip, welcomed a couple of our favorite out-of-towners, spent time at the pool, got a first hair cut, and had lots of good family time.
The month started with Harvey’s first haircut 🥲, pool time, and meeting cousin Jenny on the 4th of July which was a great surprise.
The next big adventure was our road trip to visit Sarah’s dad, Jeff, and wife, Nancy. We initially planned to drive out to them in Minnesota, but they were looking for an excuse to visit Chicago and we were happy for a shorter drive, so we decided to meet in the Windy City. On the way there we made few stops in PA with Sarah’s work colleagues and spent the night in Pittsburgh at the Priory hotel which is very cool place.
Once we got to Chicago we had a great few days with Jeff and Nancy. We saw some sights when we weren’t melting (Lincoln Park neighborhood, the aquarium, and zoo), ate great food, and had more than a few glasses of wine with Nancy. We also got to celebrate Jeff’s birthday and Harvey got some quality grandparent time.
We wish we had a few more days in Chi-town, but we had to make our way home. On the return trip after uneventful driving through Indiana and Ohio, we stayed the night in Mars, PA with Michael’s cousin Ryan, his wife Debbie, and their daughter Miranda, home from school. It was a short visit but we had a blast. Harvey was both terrified and fascinated by their pets Juno (cat) and Luna (dog) which is par for the course 😂
After leaving western PA our last stop was lunch with Sarah’s grandmother in Ephrata. She’s been alone since her husband and Sarah’s grandfather passed away last summer, so it was nice to check in and see how she’s doing.
Overall it was a great trip. We broke in the new car and got some great family time. With all of the stops, it wasn’t quite the relaxing trip we envisioned, but we’re grateful that it worked out.
The last half of the month was a blur. There was the flooding previously mentioned, a business team BBQ, and our good friends, Andrew and Emma, from Lexington, KY paid us a visit. Harvey got to spend some fun time with Aunt Emma and Uncle Andrew, we relaxed, showed them around Cranford, and we caught a NY Liberty game at the Barclay’s Center which was awesome – we highly recommend going to a game if you haven’t recently, the energy was way better than a Nets game 😂
I’ll put all the random assortment of photos below and be more prepared for next month’s post so we can get back on track. Hope everyone has a great August.
June went by like the rest of 2025 – very quickly. It was a relatively quiet month for us. We celebrated a couple birthdays, voted, got a new coffee maker, had a great Father’s Day, spent as much time outside as the weather would allow, and Sarah squeezed in one more work trip. This trip brought her to Queretaro, Mexico – check out some of her photos below.
Harvey has been a handful, but in a great way. His sleep is up and down and he loathes naps, which makes everyone a little cranky, but watching him grow and change everyday is something special.
He’s healthy and it feels like he’s growing fast which was confirmed at his 15-month check-up. He weighed 24.5lbs and stood 32″ tall.
The rest of the summer will be eventful. We’ll be seeing a bunch of family and friends, getting Harvey to the pool, and praying that this heat & humidity subside.
Hope everyone has a great (and safe) 4th of July. We’ll see you back here next month.
We ended April and began May with Sarah in Reno, NV. She was home for the weekend and then spent the first full week of the month in Lima, Peru. She was under the weather during the trip, but toughed it out. She loved Lima and counts it as her second favorite South American city, right behind Buenos Aires. Next time she goes, I think we might be making it a family trip😄 Check out her photos below.
When Sarah got back from Peru, she brought whatever had been ailing her, and the next week Harvey and I were out of commission for a few days which wasn’t fun – but we did celebrate Mother’s Day and had some good family time in there, so that was a win.
In the last half of the month:
Sarah hosted her book club group 📖
Harvey had some good time with Grammy and Grandad 🧑🏽👩🏻👦🏻
We had a business event where Mike Sr. and Georgann got some nice recognition 🏆
Harvey got some play time with his cousin Elaine 🛝
We had an eventful MDW, testing out Mike Sr.’s new grill equipment 🍔and buying a new car to give Sarah’s old girl a break🚗
April was a month of settling in and quiet observations for us here at home in Cranford. We’re continuing to find our rhythm in the new apartment, discovering little details about our new neighborhood that make it feel a bit more like home every day. It’s amazing how those small, consistent experiences – like finding a new favorite coffee spot or figuring out the best route to the park – slowly build into a sense of belonging.
April was also a busy month for Sarah with work taking her on two significant trips. She spent time in both Colombia (Bogota and Medellin) and Reno, Nevada, focusing on her company’s warehouse operations. While she doesn’t love being away from Harvey (we think she might enjoy the break from Michael 😂), she has enjoyed seeing new places and racking up a bunch of miles. A trend which will only continue as she heads of to Peru at the beginning of May.
While Mom was away, Michael and Harvey stepped up and figured out the day-to-day routines with a little extra help from a couple of Harvey’s grandparents and we are extremely grateful for their support.
What else? We squeezed Easter there, celebrating with both sides of the family. Breakfast in Lebanon, NJ with Sarah’s Mom, brothers, sister-in-law, and Harvey’s cousin Elaine. And then a great lunch in White Plains, NY with Michael’s parents, brother and his partner Xandria, as well has her mother and younger brother.
The rest of our time in April was a reminder that progress often happens in small, seemingly uneventful steps. Unpacking, finding new places to hang our art, getting organized, and simply finding our routines might not sound thrilling, but they’re the essential building blocks of making a new space feel like home.
As we move into May, we’re grateful for having a few days to catch our breath, and looking forward to an eventful Spring and Summer.
Harris Family HQ 