This is what our back yard looked like when we bought our house in 1992. Stepping out from the house, there was a wooden deck and railing, with concrete steps going down five feet to a pool deck.

10 years later, the wooden deck had started to sag, and we realized that we needed to either repair or remove the pool. We decided to replace it all.

Here's what the back yard looked like in the fall of 2009.
The pool, wooden deck and railings are gone, replaced by
stone terraces, planting areas and a small lawn.
The firepit patio is off to the right on the middle level,
and to the left of the grass, Mike had his horseshoe pit.

Our garden two years later, summer, 2011.