The first thing to note is that because your miles are spread between UA/CO and AA, you don't have enough to book on any one flight. Therefore, in the coming year, you should focus on gathering enough miles to get everyone a ticket (realistically, you need at least 250k - 300k on a single alliance).

My suggestion for booking with 5 people is to be very flexible. I recently had the chance to book a trip for 5 people, and it was an extreme challenge. You need to seriously consider splitting the party up, so that everyone can fly on miles, even if not on the same flight. An alternative is to book some in business class, while others on coach. This will allow you to stay on the same flight, but you will obviously need to budget the miles for that.

The good news is that you have a year to do all that. Spend the year accumulating miles and read about award redemption on FT. By next summer, you should have a realistic chance of making a trip work for 5 people (even in the summer).

Good luck!