Father's Day

The Friday before Father's Day was a big day for the Nyktas family. Steve participated in the hooding ceremony at Northwestern commencing his "new" life as a Master of Fine Arts. Steve's brother, Louis, and sister-in-law, Devon, celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. And Steve's dad, George, donated one of his kidneys to Louis. The transplant was successful, and here are George and Louis taking a stroll together on Father's Day, two days after the surgery.

The ceremony was a lovely one. It was pretty small and intimate. Two of his professors placed the hood over his shoulders. Here is Steve in his purple gown.

Steve and his fellow MFA graduates: Ryan, Cole, and Julie After the ceremony there was a nice little picnic with sandwiches and soda. We sat there, talking and enjoying the refreshments. I looked down and noticed something red and shiny in the dirt and grass. I usually don't pick up things off the ground but something told me to dig into the lawn to see what it was. I pulled out this little buddha statue - it had been waiting there for me. I knew it was a sign of good luck!
This is my friend, Melissa (Cole's wife) and her baby, Adele -what a cutie!

That night we went out for dinner with friends. And on Saturday morning we drove 7 hours to Columbus OH to visit Louis and George in the hospital. We were there for less than 24 hours, but had a nice visit that was well worth the drive. George was able to go home on Monday, and Louis stayed for about a week, but is at home now, resting and using his new kidney! Here are some photos I took on Father's Day of our niece, Carly Nyktas, who will turn 2 next month!

pushing Grammy in the swing! this photo is really funny!

climbing the ladder to the slide
Carly and her mom, Devon