Whew...

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!
On Tuesday, We all hopped in the car to go hang out with my family for dinner and after picking up some strawberry shortcake supplies (mmmmmmmm) were headed to my parents house. On the way we saw a man laying on the sidewalk behind a parked rv with a crowd of people trying to help him and his motorcycle laying in the street. I said a prayer for him as we drove on by.
Then at my parents house everyone's getting into the hustle and bustle of getting supper ready and the phone rings. It's my Aunt Sandy. She's been in a car accident and she's bleeding in the street. So, my parents take off to the accident while my brother and Matthew and I continue making the food and watching the boys run amuck. After awhile my parents come back as Aunt Sandy and my cousin, William, are now loaded into the ambulance.
The story goes.... My Aunt is driving along and out of the parking lot of a strip mall bar a drunk driver cuts her off making a left turn and my Aunt slammed into them. Her car is totaled (sp?) and the drunk driver takes off. William got hit pretty hard by the airbag but is otherwise fine (we know now) but with the car filling up with smoke some witnesses are trying to get them out quickly. When a lady tried to pull Aunt Sandy out she started to pick her up but realized right away that something was wrong with her leg and had to put her back down. Praise the Lord the car didn't do anything crazy while they waited for the FD and cops to get there.
The EMTs were worried about William who, having Downs Syndrome, couldn't tell them if he was in pain or how he was feeling. He was just stoked to be in an ambulance.
So, when my parents get back we finish getting supper ready, my mom heads over to the hospital and the rest of us sit down to eat and hang out. But it's not exactly the joyful family gathering we'd all envisioned earlier in the day. With talk about how they're doing and what recovery will be like and what will happen with William and the like. My Aunt's ex husband went to the hospital and sat with William in the Trauma ER while they did a full work up to make sure he was ok and then took him home when he was discharged later that night. Aunt Sandy had several MRI's and CT scans which determined a lot of bruising and that her left leg was broken in two places. Now, for those of you who don't know her, She has SEVERE rheumatoid arthritis, the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else. She is so frail and fragile that a few months back she broke her leg standing up getting out of bed. SO, while we were happy to know that's all that had broken, we were nervous about how well they could repair it and what recovery would be like for her. She had surgery Wednesday and despite warnings that she may wake up with only one leg they were, in fact, able to reset her brittle bones and she has been in good spirits. Today, she was transferred to a "skilled nursing facility" to aid in her recovery and physical therapy. She's hoping to only be there a week but I have a feeling she may be there longer and that it would actually be really good for her to stay as long as she can to have the best care. She will be in a wheelchair for quite some time but the dr says that with proper PT she'll be able to walk again. Thank you all for your prayers as she recovers.
In other, totally less important, news:
The garden is exploding! It's so fantastic having berries and beans and peas to eat from the garden and the promise of so many more goodies in the near future!

Hey, anyone know what kind of white squash this is? I bought these as starts and they were labeled zucchini. But when they started spreading I knew they must be pumpkins of some sort but now the fruit is white without any banding. They're totally smooth and round. I'm confused.

One of my gargantuan tomato plants is covered in beautiful green tomatoes and I am just so excited for them ripen up already. However the other, just as large and even bushier, has none. So weird.
Last night, I made Parmesan Breaded Chicken from my Nourishing Traditions book with mashed potatoes and buttermilk bisquits. Sooo good.

Parmesan Breaded Chicken Breasts
8 Skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 C unbleached flour
1 tsp pepper
4 eggs, beaten
2 C whole grain bread crumbs
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
about 4 tbsp butter
about 4 tbsp olive oil

Trim the chicken breasts and pound lightly with the small prong side of a meat hammer. mix flour and pepper together on a plate; have beaten eggs ready in a bowl; mix bread crumbs and cheese in another bowl. Using tongs (or your fingers)

dip each piece first in the flour mixture then in the eggs and lastly in the bread crumb mixture. Saute a few at a time in butter and olive oil about 7 minutes per side, being careful not to burn.

Transfer to a heated plate in the oven until ready to serve.
This is a delicious substitute for fried chicken.