2008: a year in review.

travis, amelia, and i rang in 2008 at the colliers' house to start the year out right!
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february marked rhiannon's mom's 44th birthday. along with the celebration, we also had a loss in the family as travis's great-grandmother, bumba passed away. she had lived a very full life and is survived by multiple children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
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in march, sierra joined us for a girls' night out at the apartment. we spent time doing pedicures and watching amanda bynes' movie sydney white.

amelia and rhiannon often spent time on brookside listening to wink burcham and enjoying sushi at kampei ... so sad it's no longer there.

march also brought travis's 23rd birthday. we celebrated with dinner at a steakhouse with justin and amelia, followed by laser tag, and then cake at the apartment.
===================================================================================== a few days later justin celebrated his 22nd birthday, quickly followed by amelia and her 26th. unfortunately there are no pictures to document the festive occasions.

it was a month full of birthdays as we helped our good friend court celebrate his 31st.
april also marked rhiannon's movement from a recruiter with the addison group to account executive of business development ... a fancy schmancy way to say "sales."
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in may travis began a new job at sixbyte computers. he became a network administrator and has loved every minute of his time there this past year. he has made good friends in tom and david and is able to bounce ideas off the owner, christopher.

both of our dads celebrated their birthdays in may, rhiannon's dad celebrating his 53rd, travis's his 51st.
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in june rhiannon celebrated her 25th birthday. part of the weekend was spent with brunch at her parent's. the lears were also very sweet and threw her a birthday luau, since she has so desperately wanted a vacation to hawaii.

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we spent the fourth of july in edmond celebrating with our favorite "nephews" and the rest of the family. we also celebrated aunt sue's birthday. july brought the biker boyz show with it. we're pictured here at dinner after a hot day in the summer sun. below is one of the stunts.one of rhiannon's friends from high school, jenny logsdon, found herself engaged to be married. girls loaded up and headed to dallas for a fabulous personal shower and bachelorette party. there are few girls that rhiannon keeps in touch with from high school; andy & jenny are two of them & the weekend together was a lot of fun.

we're pictured here at rockets over rhema. we spent the evening with amelia and bird eating yummy food and enjoying the fireworks display.

our dear friend jen collier also celebrated her birthday this month. it seems we're lacking in our pictures from some very special events this year. a new year's resolution may need to be in order here ...

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august closed one chapter and began a new one as amelia moved out of the apartment and returned back to stillwater to pursue a new bachelor's degree. travis and rhiannon moved out of the three bedroom apartment and into a much smaller one bedroom apartment. we remained at the vintage on yale, but found ourselves in much closer quarters. we've had fun making this place our own. it has been strange, though, not having amelia around, especially since the past two years she and rhiannon have lived together and spent most of their waking time together.

our friend morgan also married his fiancee mychal this month. the wedding was beautiful and everyone had a great time at the reception. while dancing at the reception travis said to rhiannon, "so you think we're next?"

justin and lindsay also got engaged this month! her parents said they knew from the first time that they met justin that the two were meant for each other. ===================================================================================

rhiannon started having serious medical issues in july. the symptoms continued and finally she saw a specialist who put her in the hospital the following day for surgery. during that surgery a cyst the size of a lemon was removed from her uterus, a large mass that had attached itself to the underside of her uterus was removed and put back in place, multiple cysts were removed from her ovaries, and while they were at it, they removed her appendix.

sierra turned 15 (unbelievable!) and for the first time ever, rhiannon was unable to make it to the party because of the surgery she had. the surgery was actually scheduled on the day of sierra's birthday. the recouperation was long and lengthly, so the next weekend, the soiree was missed.

we also took a trip to dallas with justin and lindsay. it was our first trip together. they were spending the night at our apartment pretty often, even before we moved to our new apartment, but the visits were less frequent now since we no longer had a spare bedroom in the new apartment.

later in the month the four of us received our scuba diving certifications. we've yet to take a trip to some place fabulous to use our new certifications.

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most of october was spent working and getting things ready for justin and lindsay's wedding. the economy was beginning to fail, so a lot of makeup was being done at work for the time rhiannon had missed due to her surgery. wedding invitations and bridal shower invitations were being designed and mailed out.

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in november, a new member joined our family. a little neice named layla. justin and lindsay got a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous baby pyranese. every week we've watched her grow and can not believe how quickly she is growing up.

november was even more special. on november twenty-first, travis asked rhiannon if she was ready for her next fairy tale as his wife. the answer of course was yes. now we find ourselves booking venues, attending wedding shows, and planning our big event for 2009.

we spent thanksgiving with both of our families and it was our first holiday with lindsay. for the first time, we had thanksgiving at the lears/aukerman's first and then at mom and dad's. layla and ivory spent lots of time together, and my dad's sister "nanny" joined us for the first time in years.

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christmas was perfect. travis brought our first little boy, connor, home on christmas morning. we spent christmas eve at rhiannon's mom and dad's and everyone woke up there on christmas morning. after opening presents, we went to the lears' and justin and lindsay went to the aukermans. we spent most of the day at the lears' introducing connor to his other set of grandparents and getting to know him a little better. christmas dinner was delicious and then we all met back up at rhiannon's mom and dad's for a game night and buffet dinner. it's interesting to see the changes the expanding family brings.

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two days after christmas justin and lindsay got married. they had a beautiful wedding and all of the families came together for the special night. everything was beautiful and everyone had a great time. one of the best parts of the night was after, though, when everyone went together for a big family dinner all together.

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we said farewell to 2008 with time at the pool hall and time at the lears'. rhiannon actually didn't make it to the pool hall as she had to work on the 31st and was too tired to drive down immediately after work. travis, justin, and lindsay spent time with mom and dad and then we all met up at travis's parents'. we toasted the new year with our loved ones surrounding us.

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all in all 2008 was a monumental year for us as we experienced many exciting changes. milestone birthdays. new homes. new jobs. friends announcing their pregnancies. friends getting married. families announcing their engagement. our engagement! adding a member to our family at christmas. adding a new family to our family two days after christmas.

we can't wait to see what 2009 has in store for us!