Ty's been around a dozen years or so...you know the day will come when your little fella will be ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood as a deacon, you know he will pass the sacrament and collect fast offerings and be part of a quorum. You spend as much time as you can muster to prep him - he doesn't 'wing it' terribly well - and then, behold! The day is upon you.
He's the most solid of kids, conscientious and sensitive and earnest and sincere; smart, curious, soaks up all information like a sponge. So I wasn't all teary-eyed over my boy growing up so much as honored that any child of mine could withstand his upbringing and dedicate himself so fully to sacred things.
What am I looking at here?
Anyhoo...immediately following his ordination. Proud days for Crawfords.
Ty's birthday fell the day before our Fall Break trip to Florida, so we celebrated in stages, as we always seem to do...this is his late-in-the-month birthday party, showing off his good taste in friends as much as his gift: few things say 'Ty' like baseball cards. He also scored a flat-billed black Angels cap, around which his life has centered since it came out of the box. No joke.
Scene of the crime: Speed Raceway in Centennial...a haven for all boys and a few select sisters. They gear you up, have you pick a nickname, track your speeds and rank you - and make parents jump through every legal hoop known to man in order to let their children race. I've never once been there when one kid in every group couldn't procure the correct signature on the correct line, or attached the photo copy of the driver's licence, or some combination of the two, and are just kicking it in the lobby, waiting for mom to fax the proper info. This time, it was one of our guests.
Too big for cakes, mom. Just Krispy Kreme donuts. But I have to have one with sprinkles. And the stupidest-looking candle you can rummage up in the drawer to go in the middle. There. NOW I'm a creeper.
Ty and Corey. Ty really does have a great group of friends - he's stellar all-around, academically, spiritually and socially, and the money part is how good he is at knowing his own pulse and who complements him, makes him feel good inside, has his back. If I could just bottle up all those boys and keep the best parts of them at 12, just to pour on 'em when they hit the bumps in the road and are tempted to become other than what they are...this group's gold, though. I don't see it happening.
Favorite gift: a bag to swing into, now that he's started Dolphins baseball in a year-round program. Baseball is life, people. He finished another great fall season with the Parker Hawks, but not great enough to drive out the love of basketball, which will start, oh, momentarily.
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