I am having trouble understanding the concept of order statistics. If I have $X\_1, \ldots, X\_n$ random variables, I can define the order statistics (which are alse random variables) $X\_{(1)}, \ldots, X\_{(n)}$ which are a sorting of $X\_1, \ldots, X\_n$.  

I can't sort random variables; instead I have to sort their realizations. So , when I sort these realizations, the random variables are no longer functions since they are a value now, (a realization), so I don't understand why $X\_{(1)}, \ldots, X\_{(n)}$ are random variables, since they are a sorting of realizations. Can someone help me?