CHRISTMAS!!!!

Christmas was 3 days ago. It was AWESOME!! I got Just Dance 3, candy, perfume, and a hat! Oh! I also got skis and all the gear I need for skiing. I got a three day pass. We go on a ski bus first and then have a lesson, they lunch, and they we get to ski all we want the rest of the day!
For Christmas eve we went to Grandpa Darrells house where we had the traditional chick-fil-a chicken nuggets for dinner. Then we watched the Christmas story. We opened presents halfway through the movie and I got a $35 gift card to American Eagle.
Christmas morning we got up and went to the early church and then went to Grandma's for waffles. Grandma and Grandpa gave me candy, lip stuff, and money for my ski days!
I had a great Christmas and I can't wait for next year!

Im finally 15!!!!!

Happy birthday to me on Tuesday November 29, 2011. I had tons of fun! On the day before my birthday (so monday) we celebrated with my dad who would be leaving the next morning for out of town (sad right?) Get this... I chose pizza! Who knew this day would ever come! It was my mom's/paul's homemade recipe. yummy yummy stuff! Then we watched survivor, once upon a time, and amazing race. (BTW the finale was awful!!! So was the finale of survivor!!! Gah!!!)
The next day (on my birthday) We had everyone over for cafe rio pork! (also one of my favorites!) Jay, Mason, Gina, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Riley, and Andrew were there.
I still havent gotten my permit... I will... eventually...

Holy Cow!

Holy cow it's been forever since I last wrote! And I think it's about time I did. Well, I have been busy these last few months. I went to girls camp, and Eden, school started, first term ended, just went to Park City last weekend, and had a Halloween party.

Lets start with girls camp, shall we? We went to camp Erie up in Camus. It was a stake camp this year. We had a lot of fun and I liked getting to know my new ward. We hiked, played games, and stayed up late. (Of course right?) We also did spiritual things too. Like testimony meeting, reading letters from our parents, and DEAR time. (Daily... something, something... reading.) I had a lot of fun, but I must admit that I like ward camp better.

Eden was a lot of fun. We got there Sunday after noon and played games with all the uncles, aunts and uncles girlfriends. We had a super intense game of volleyball. Then we had dinner and the uncles went home. We stayed with the grandparents and the next day I went home, got a friend, and came back in time to swim and play games with her. Then we spent another night and the next day went home.

School. It's been fun. I guess. My teachers are stricter than last year, and assignments are harder but that's just what happens. It's good, I got mostly all A's this first term. So far so good!

Park city was so much fun. Saturday morning we got up early and drove there. Then went to the outlets where I bought new boots and sweats. Then we went to the hotel. When we got there we swam, and played board games. The next day we had to be out by 11 so we packed and left. We went to main street where I bought a robot painted onto a domino. So cool! Then we went and visited the shoe tree and left 3 shoes. Then we went home and watched survivor, amazing race, and once upon a time.

I've had fun lately, but I really need to keep up on my posts!

The Secret Garden

I'm in the play 'The Secret Garden.' It's about a little girl who's family dies and she goes to live with her uncle and changes his life and a few other peoples lives! I deffinately recomend this play! It's the 12th of July through the 18th. Tickets are $6 per person. Or if you call 801-451-0953 you might be able to get them for $5. It's worth a shot! The play is at woodland park and starts at 7:30. It's located at 300 south 200 east Farmington Utah. If you come you'll want to wear bug spray, bring a lawn chair or blanket, and some snacks! or they are selling popcorn, drinks, and candy for $1. If you come try to get there early so you can get a good parking place and a good seat. I can't wait for you to come see it!

Youth Voices on the Mormon Channel

A couple months ago I had tried out for a radio station called youth voices on the Mormon Channel. A few weeks ago I got a call saying that I would be part of a discussion at the conference center. When I got to the conference center I waited about 45 minutes for the rest of the kids to show up. When they did the people in charge took us all into a little room with a lot of equipment.

They gave us some headphones so we could hear another girl in California. We all had our notes and the discussion went about two hours. I had a lot of fun and hope that they call me back to do it again.

Summer!

Yay! We only have 10 days until school's out for summer!!!! (not including weekends of course) I'm super excited! This summer I plan to go swimming, sleep in, go hiking, biking, playing/hanging out (whichever you prefer) with my friends and obviously so much more!

All I have to say is that on the last day of school, this will be me! flailing arms and all!

OUR CRUISE!!!

Sorry, it's been a few weeks but, as I mentioned in one of my previous blogs, I said that my family and I were going on a cruise over spring break! Well, unfortunately spring break is over. We woke up around 5 in the morning and got to the airport around 6:45 where we waited for my grandma, grandpa, aunts, and uncles. Then we waited some more until we could get onto the plane around 8. Around 9:45 we arrived in L.A! My first plane ride! It was super fun!

We first ate at the buffet, and then almost every night we ate at a restaurant! We had tons of fun! After eating we would usually go to a show, which most of them were pretty good. They had comedians, magicians, and gymnastics! After the show we would go to the buffet and have hot chocolate and play cards.

Our first port was Cabo San Lucas! We walked around and shopped. I held an iguana named Pueblo!

I also took a picture with a scary pirate painted gold! (You can't tell, but he was a real person!) I bought a charm for my necklace, a toy dragon, and a box for my friend! (It was cool, don't worry!) We also were at Cabo for our second day. That day we went to the beach where I bought some bracelets! (hand-made of course) We all got extremely sunburned even though we had tons of sunscreen on!

One of the best meals was breakfast! (besides lunch and dinner of course) I think I gained about 5 pounds!

The pool was awesome! We had a live band most of the time, it was way too loud! Fun though, right? I, being a teenager, liked it! Most of the adults, being, well, adults, thought it could have been less loud.

We all spent most of the sea days lying around, sleeping, reading, and tanning. Of course, we also ate as much ice cream as we could!

Our third port was puerto vallarta! My parents and brothers went on a pirate ship to a private beach! They had a pirate show, and went on a banana boat! I, on the other hand, went with my aunt and uncles to a little village. We got on jeeps and rode into the jungle! where we rode mules and then.... ZIP LINED! We did 8 zip lines and 2 repels! We had tons of fun zip lining! We quickly got the hang of it! My favorite zip was the one where we zipped right into the water! I definitely recommend it if you ever get the chance! I definitely had fun spending time with my aunt and uncles! Well, I can cross that one off my list of things to do before I die!

One of the best parts was finding an animal on the bed in our cabin when we got back from our fun day! We had a monkey, bunny, swans, and a dog!

At the end, we were all tired and ready to go home. (even though no one would admit it) We were waiting in the airport and guess who was there? JIMMER! What an end to the vacation! I definitely had fun and can't wait for our next family trip!

Latest on ME!

I haven't blogged for a while! sorry! I've been preoccupied with family, friends, and school! Well, lets give the latest on me! I almost have straight A's! (so close!) My parents just bought new car because my dad NEEDED a new one! They bought a black Hyundai Sonata! It has that new car smell! Who's excited for summer? I AM! I AM! I can't wait for sleeping in, staying up late, swimming, vacation, and especially NO SCHOOL! Don't get me wrong I (sorta) like school, it's just that to me 10 months and 4 days of school is just too much sometimes! I definitely feel for all the teachers! How horrible! Sometimes I wonder if I really want to be a teacher when I grow up! Anyway, its just nice to have a long break!

Over spring break My family and I are going on a cruise! I have over $150 saved up for it! My parent's said that we could go swimming with dolphins, turtles, or something like that! I wonder how many times a day I say that I'm so excited for the cruise!

Big News!!!!!!

Big news! Big News! Big News!!!!! I have some news that just HAS to be shared!
I unexpectedly got a CELL PHONE!
I was sitting in the living room reading and my brother walks in and his pocket starts ringing! he then pulls out my mom's cell phone!
Then I said "Riley where did you get that?" He then tells me to answer it. I look at the caller Id and it's my mom's number!
I answer it and my mom says "I guess I left my phone there"
Then I say "Well how are you calling me?"
Then she says " SURPRISE! The phone you are holding is now YOUR phone!"
Isn't it cute? It was my mom's old one but to me its better than nothing!

Fall

Well, Thanksgiving is only one week away and I was just thinking about what I'm grateful for. And I'm grateful for a lot of things! I took this picture right outside my house and I just wanted to share it with you. I wanted to show you one of the amazing things god created.

It's the start of my super long list of thing's I'm grateful for. I'm thankful for the sunset, my family, friends and (sometimes) school. I am also thankful for the gospel, our bishop, and banana's! My list goes on and on! Our family has a paper turkey in the kitchen and every morning we put a feather on it with something we're thankful for. You could do this too! Or you could just make a list and put it on your fridge.

Buxton's Annual Halloween Party

On Thursday October 28th we went to Grandpa Darrell's house for a Halloween party! We watched "It's the great pumpkin Charlie Brown" and ate pizza for dinner. This was Grandpa's first time watching Charlie brown and he loved every second of it!

Our family had grown quite a bit, My aunt and uncle, Todd and Lisa, might be adopting two little girls into their family. Katie (6) and Nicole (8) Katie is very friendly and warmed up to the family the minute she got there. Nicole took a minute but still warmed up to our family after a few minutes. They're both very cute and friendly. Welcome to the family!

Uncle Mason's Haunted House!

Tuesday night October 12th, My mom, Andrew, Riley, and I went to my uncle Mason's house. Mason said that before we could come in he had to set up. So we were outside in the cold waiting for him to set up his house. At first we didn't think it was worth it. Boy were we wrong!

When you first walk in there's a man standing there holding a tray of candy. He laughs and looks at you. Super creepy!

Mason had a graveyard with a huge skeleton head in his living room! Andrew and Mason are playing dead in the graveyard.

My aunt, Gina, was there too, and she was standing in the doorway holding a candle like this. It's super creepy with all the lights off. Mason also had thunder and lightning. Strobe lights and his ipod. He gets super excited about Halloween. It's like walking through a haunted house. I don't understand how he can live there with all that creepy stuff. I took a video because no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to show how cool his house looked. I know the video is sort of long, but trust me, it's worth it. Andrew was visibly terrified. We love our uncle Mason, and how creative he is.

My Saturday!

Saturday, 9/11, I had a fun filled day. My two brothers and my dad were gone, so my mom and I had lunch with my uncle.
We met at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I got the traditional spaghetti of course. My mom and uncle Mason both got the managers favorite.

After the filling meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory, we went to the D.I. Where as you can see my mom and Mason spent literally hours finding treasures for Halloween. Guess who got dragged all across the store? Me, of course! Well that was an exaggeration, I found a few things myself.

We had a very productive day, and at the end we were all smiles.
Sometimes it's fun treasure hunting.

Linda Ann Buxton

This is my Dad's Mom, my Nanny. She died today. She was only 62 years old.
Both my Grandma Barton and my Nanny have the middle name of Ann.
So.....they named me Amanda Ann after them. She loved it when I would rub her back.
She loved to make and eat lasagna, everyone else loved it when she made lasagna too!
I will miss her. I will miss laughing and joking with her.
I love you Nanny!

The First Day of School!

Monday, August 23rd, 2010! Also known as the first day of school! It was my little brother Andrew's first day of 1st grade, Riley's first day of 6th grade, and My first day of 8th grade! Well
I don't know much about the boys day except that it was "Great" and "Awesome".

Well my day was BORING! We went over the rules and disclosures in each class, except Math and Science where we took tests! In Science my teacher wanted us to write five questions each for Physics, Ecology, and Chemistry. Here's what I put for all of them "How are we supposed to know what Physics, Ecology, and Chemistry are?" Not really, I just put random questions. Then he gave us a quiz to determine which home we would be in. Did I mention he is obsessed with Harry Potter? In Math my teacher gave us a sheet with about fifty times tables to do in the last three minutes of class time!

During the day we usually go to first through fifth period then lunch. But today was different. We went to all seven classes, then lunch, then advisory. Lunch had about eight hundred kids talking, and shoving for a place in line. Can you imagine? I'm deaf now! We usually have two lunches so there isn't so much confusion. I don't understand why the first day can't be like any other. Anyway things usually calm down after the first day and we can learn in peace.

The latest on.....ME!

Well, I had surgery a few weeks ago where the dentist cut open my mouth and connected a chain to a perminant tooth that isn't coming down. Yesterday the chain came undone from the tooth! My mom and I went to the dentist to ask what needs to be done to fix it. Well, I need to do the surgery all over again. Bummer, huh?



On top of that my grandma is in the hospital with colon cancer, and her liver is failing. On the bright side I have a great family who has supported us.



My grandma is a great lady! When I was little she would take me to the Nutcracker. And once a year I would spend a week with her and help her clean her house, after that she would take me to a movie and dinner. I loved to go to her house and swim with my cousins. She taught me how to make baked beans you know! I'll miss her but I know that she's up in heaven watching over me and my family. Now I have more reasons to be good and be able to get where she is.

Sleeping Over At Uncle Mason's!

The other day my little brothers Andrew, Riley, and I slept over at our uncle Mason's house. We first went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Yum! Then we went to his house and our Aunt Gina was there! We went inside and played bongos and ate Twix that Gina had brought. After that we went downstairs to watch Anastasia.

Then around midnight we went to the store to buy biscuits and gravy for our breakfast the next morning. That's a fun tradition that we do every time we sleep over!

Then when we got home Gina was gone and we all fell right asleep! We don't usually stay up till midnight!

The next morning we went to his pool and played until our mom came to get us! Gina came that morning to swim with us!

We had a ton of fun and are excited to do it again! Soon, I hope!

Braces!

On Tuesday July 13, 2010 I got Braces! Nobody knew I was going to get them, including myself! We went to the Orthodontist to see if I would still need them and the cost. Right before lunchtime The Orthodontist came in and said "We had a cancellation, do you want to put the braces on right now?" So...SURPRISE! I will now respond to Brace face, Metal mouth, or train tracks! NOT!

Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites!

I just finished the tenth book of this series! "The Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites!" I had a lot a fun reading these books. I really got into them. This book was filled with Action, Religion, Fantasy, Romance, and Tragedy. Everything that makes a good book good!

It's about two teenage kids who go exploring in a cave and find themselves right in the middle of the Nephite world! As the books go on so do the generations. The kids have kids, and the kids of the kids have kids! And so on! So many different, exciting, and mysterious things go on! I found that I could NOT put the books down! I hope you will find them as exciting as I did!

Girls camp 2010!

This year for Girls camp 2010, we only saw it fitting to go to bear lake since last year our camp was attacked by a bear! We all had TONS of fun and many spiritual experiences. Well the toilet was nicer than we expected, but it was still NASTY!

Each tent was a tribe (From 'Survivor') My tribe was the Sesomites! We got Sesomites by using Moses backwards, and adding ites. We chose Moses because he had to be really couragous to take the people to cross the red sea!

My tribe had Kayla, Kaylee, Mickel, Alexis, and of course ME!

We loved having camp right on the beach! I tried water skiing for the first time! I did it! Beach day was fun even though we got rained on!

We had to wait almost an hour and a half to get into Minnetonka Cave!

We all had fun chasing the chipmunks around the parking lot!
This was my 3rd time going into Minnetonka cave and everytime I have been amazed at how beautiful it is!

At the end of the cave the tour guide turned out the lights and told us that we had to find our way in the dark to the stairs by holding the rail. She said it was just like Lehi's dream where he had to hold to the rod! Eventually the rail ended and we were stumbling in the dark toward our tour guides flashlight! That was just one of the spiritual experiences!

That last night when the bishop came, he brought pizza! Everyone was excited for take out! Even though our cook was an AMAZING cook! We used the leftover boxes for the fire for our testimony meeting! But earlier my mom had given everyone an oil lamp and said to hold onto it. She told us about the ten virgins, and how 5 didn't have any oil and didn't get to see the bridegroom! Eventually the bishop said "He has come! Bring your oil lamps and come!" Those who had their lamps got to go in and hear one of our leaders Amazing testimonies. Only 5 of the 40 girls that were there were prepared. I was one of them. Some girls's sisters, dad's(preisthood holders"), and friends weren't there. We all got a taste of how it would feel if the the Savior really did come and we weren't all together with our friends and family.

After dinner we got to go and read a letter from our parents. That got me crying.

Testimony meeting was Great as well. Almost everyone bore their testimony. Me included. Everyone who bore theirs got me crying all over again.

The next morning we packed up our stuff and underneath my tent was 2 squished mice with their guts all spilling out, One alive and running around, and a newborn baby. We were pretty sure that the alive one gave birth while we were all asleep! We were all sad and our camp cook told us the baby wouldn't make it.

Every one had fun and was sad it was time to leave. We all left with a stronger testimony and a few GREAT memories!