Ending our very full July was a trip to see my in-laws and celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It was wonderful to see so many people from Manny's family. They rented the hall where we've had the family Christmas Eve party before. They had a live band and Manny's cousin who owns a taco cart business provided the delicious food. It was very hot for her to have to cook outside! Manny was tasked with giving the speech for the event, and he worked hard preparing for it. He's a pretty witty and engaging speaker, even though public speaking is not his favorite. I think it went over well. My in-laws danced and smiled together, which was beautiful, and then everyone was up there cuttin' a rug.
Also that weekend, we had a belated 50th birthday lunch for my brother John at Fogo de Chao. His birthday was three months before, but we weren't able to make it down until July. He requested prime rib, but it was hard to find a place open at lunch near him. So this was the next best meat-forward place we could go. It was a lot of driving for Manny, several hours a day, and I am grateful for that. My in-laws also hosted a little celebration at a pizza place for Lucas's birthday. Lucas hasn't had a celebration outside our home in a long time, so I am very grateful for that.
We also went to Manny's coworker's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, and I honestly was shocked they are an immigrant Chinese couple who went with a traditional western wedding (vs. a Chinese banquet). There were many fun happenings at the event. I especially liked the sparklers to end the evening. I also saw old coworkers whom I hadn't seen in 20 years. Some still remembered me. One remembered I held up their product release for field readiness issues, costing their group a lot of money, but he acknowledged I was just doing my job. One of Manny's coworkers, who at first seemed nice enough, thought it would be a good idea to point out how Manny doesn't wear his wedding ring (he didn't for three years but does now) and how hard it must be for me as a stay-at-home mom to not see him much. I think he actually talked to her about what she said ot me the next day, which I didn't necessarily want him to (but can't blame him since I told him about it). Of course, it probably got chalked up to a misunderstanding on my part, but I don't believe I misheard. There's some ptsd I have around Manny's work, something I just have to intentionally work through regularly.
I've wondered sometimes how different things might have been had I stayed working there, but I could see it wasn't very feasible once Naomi was born. That's neither here nor there now. Plus, I did want to be around more for my children. Before we had kids, there were days when Manny and I would both get off work so late and eat dinner at 10 pm. And then as each child was born, it just didn't work out for me to return to work full-time. I still plan to return to work, but not engineering. I still maintain I've worked harder as a full-time mom than I ever did as a full-time employee. Raising kids just didn't come naturally to me, nor did I have the best role models, and parenting books and other parents had conflicting ideas. I really had to lean a lot on the grace of God. In time, I've come to understand leaning on God's wisdom and not my own understanding when it comes to parenting. The biggest challenge is when we don't agree on how to parent. I think the thing I value most is that my children feel safe to share anything with me, so I can point them to Christ, and that they see I'm not above apologizing or changing my ways, something I didn't have with my own parents growing up. Not to say Manny was wrong or that I didn't make a ton of mistakes, but I hope in the end the kids will see that despite my mistakes and sins I was devoted to the family.
The photos as I've mentioned load backwards when there are a lot, so the chronological order was actually Manny's cowoker's wedding, then going to Manny's parents', Lucas's birthday, my brother's birthday, and my in-law's anniversary party.
