Thanks for sharing your experience!
Ideally, it would always be nice if we all were completely prepared. But I don't think it is right to poo-poo you for this trip when you made a safe call. Not being entirely (or even over-prepared) prepared pales in seriousness when you were cautious and made a safe call... even when the summit was in sight. I think that is what is important.
You had someone experience with rappelling who could have gone first and given you a safety fireman's belay. If you were going to do your first abseil and set up your own anchor... that would be another conversation. But that is not what happened. Plenty of super-experienced folks have died because of beginner mistakes. I think safety-cognizance is the essential attribute for a wise climber.
