Tony and the guys have been working long days on the outdoor stairs and the area all around it. The youth group that was here this summer put in the stairs, but there was still lots of retaining walls to be built, ground to be leveled, plants to be planted, etc. In the picture above, you can see them working on a short rock wall to hold the dirt in for the first level of the stair landscaping. The bottom level has rocks for it's wall, and the upper two levels have retaining wall. The rocks were all taken from the garden that was along the front wall of Molly's. They were all dug up and moved to the areas that you see here.
This photo was taken from the top of the stairs. You get a better "big view" idea of what's going on. At the bottom of the stairs, you can see where Tony added an 8' landing. This section allows for a gate that will go towards
Marceaux' "dog house" (the kids old playhouse). If you go that way, you will no longer be able to go in front of Molly's bedroom windows. That "sidewalk" is now gone. Also in the picture above, is the beginnings of the plantings. In that section, Karol and Jen planted
hostas that were taken from other areas.
In the above pic, you can see that the guys have pulled up the pieces of concrete that made up the old sidewalk.
The guys took those pieces of concrete and put them in front of the "dog house". This area is higher than it was before, plus it was just grass in front of it previously.
In this picture, the guys have the decking on the bottom landing. Plus, you can see the step up from that section to the gate that will go to the "dog house"
Jen finishing the
hostas in the bottom level.
The guys took out all of the plants from the garden in front of Molly's today. Jen, Molly, Karol and Chrissy planted all of them around the grounds. Some went behind the snack stand, some by the office, some in front of Jen's and some to this new stairwell area. Molly is planting in front of the "dog house". In all of the areas we planted, weed barrier was put down, then a hole was cut for each plant before the digging and planting part. It's pretty time consuming during the planting process, but it sure does make weeding easier!
Jen is planting the ferns behind and alongside the "dog house"
Here you can see all of the plants and rock border gone. All that's left is the large bush. We had to use the
skidsteer to move it; all of 10' to the right!
To the left of the old garden in front of Molly's was old concrete slab that extended past the newer closet/mechanical room addition that was put on before the Koch's moved in here. Tony cut the concrete with the concrete saw....
Then Nick got to town with the sledgehammer. They got all of the broken concrete pieces out. This entire area in front of Molly's is now level with the rest of the yard.
Also today, Chrissy, with some help from Karol browned 30 pounds of ground beef, 8 pounds of onions and 7 bunches of celery. After all were cooked, Chrissy mixed it all up and put them into baggies for our chili dinner this coming Saturday at the Camp Daniel appreciation picnic.
Tony and the guys have continued working hard on the exterior stairs and landscaping around them. The pic above shows the top of the stairs, which will go to Tony Sr. and Jo's house. I love the little garden bed that you can see on the right of the pic.
Tony laid in concrete pavers that will be surrounded by grass, then moving closer to the front of the picture, is a small area with the pavers mortared in. The last stretch will be paved the next time we pour concrete.
The area in front of the dog house turned out very quaint. In the picture below, you can see the metal gate and fencing.
Also since, the last post, Karol, Jen and Molly finished planting all of the plants that we have to put in the ground. We still need more plants for shady spots. We'll do more hostas, bleeding hearts, and hopefully lily of the valley. 
After the guys got the concrete and garden out of the front of Molly's, they leveled the dirt and finished the paver area in front of her porch. Tony mortared around the stones that were there, took out a strip of plants and added mortar to it. The front is now ready for the siding, and a seeping problem that we were having in this building is now rectified.
The view in the pic above is similar to a shot in the last post, but here, you can see the rest of the planting. Where there are not yet plants, we still laid the weed barrier down and covered it with mulch. 
The above pic shows the second level and a bit of the third. The second tier has pea gravel right behind the house. When the planting is done, you won't be able to see that area. The third level has some plants that are out of the shot, but the rest of the planting will be done in the spring. In the picture below, you can see Tony and the guys working on the top tier. The fencing will keep people on the path and going the correct way down the stairs. They also planted 7 trees around the stairs area.
Other things going on include: Karol and Molly cleaned and reorganized the paint room. They added two shelves and labeled each gallon of paint with the area it was used. Tim Mandich met with those involved in the Shopko grant that he is apply for. They went over our proposal to make sure it's the best it can be before it's submitted. The Able Church's Tuesday night program started up again. The Able Attack has a few players bowling and a team doing volleyball this year. Tim, Molly, Jen and Marceaux have been busy getting all of those programs, and the bible studies going.
