February a Month of Celebrations & Special Occasions

February is a month full of celebrating in our household.   First we get to celebrate the birth of the one and only Ryan Devine on February 8th.  What a stud he is, and I'm grateful to have him in my life. February 8th is also significant because it is the day Ryan and I met many years ago while waiting in the Subway line at the Cougareat. This year Ryan's birthday fell on a Tuesday, and he had class, so we kept it low key.  I woke him up before I left for work and told him he had to open a present.  We typically open our presents in the evening with cake, so he said no I want to open it later.  Being persistent, I explained that he needed to open this one gift and that we'd do the rest later.   He pulled his present out of the gift bag and a sense of confusion came over his face.  I bought him a PAN!!!!!!  Trying to "act" excited he said oh thank you.  I grinned and laughed then left the bedroom.  I returned 10 seconds later with a tray of crepes.  He smiled and and it CLICKED.  Crepes are one of Ryan's  favorite foods and I haven't been able to make them for him because all our pans have ridges in them.

A couple of days before Ryan's birthday, I asked him what type of cake he wanted and he said a dulce de leche cheesecake.  How is that for specific?  The only problem is that we'd never had it before and I didn't have a recipe.  I don't like testing new recipes for special occasions.  What if it doesn't turn out?  After searching multiple food websites and calling neighbors for ingredients, I whipped up this dulche de leche cheesecake and luckily it turned out.  The cheesecake was his favorite present by far.  I could have returned all of his gifts, and he would have been perfectly content with just the cheesecake.  It was so cute, he cherished every last slice.

Another special experience happened this month.  My friend Jaime W. and I went to the San Antonio temple.  As were were leaving, someone whispered to us that President Uchtdorf had just walked into the temple.  We were shocked.  President Uchtdorf is a member of the presidency of our church.  Smiling from ear to ear Jaime and I took a seat in front of the baptismal area hoping we might get a glimpse of President Uchtdorf.  I saw a man that was standing still in a suit who looked like he could be security.  So we started chatting with him and he told us he was indeed security.  He started telling us stories from the days when he was President Hinckley's security guard.  It was so cool.  Eventually President Uchtdorf walked out and he came straight over to baptismal area.  It was hilarious because I did a total Vanna White move and raised my arms and said this is one the best views in the temple.  His wife Harriet smiled and gave us hugs.  She was so SWEET.  We stood up so we weren't in their way.

Eventually he came over and shook our hands.  I asked him how he enjoyed Texas, and he said he LOVED it.  His wife said he lived here years ago.  I think he must have lived in Texas for something related to flight training.  Apparently he lived in West Texas and helped build a church building there years ago.  He was in town for the dedication of a new building out where he built a church years ago.  He seemed very excited.  He looked great.  He had a special spirit and glow about him.  He seemed so polished.  You could hardly hear his German accent.  He continued to chat with us and asked us where we traveled from.  We told him Austin, and he said, "Oh the state capital."  As we walked out I gave his security guard the thumbs up.  If it weren't for him, we probably wouldn't have patiently waited.  We walked over to the distribution center to buy a few things.  The people working there had no idea President Uchtdorf was over at the temple.  So when we left I saw his car and security pull up, I ran back to the distribution center and told them he was about to leave and to look for him.  They got so excited and ran outside.  It was so cute.  When President Uchtdorf left he not only waved to the group outside, but was shaking their hands.  I was so touched.  I'm sure everywhere this man goes people bombard him and want to meet him.  He was so humble and took the time to shake hands with and meet every single person.  This will be a lasting memory in my heart.