Thousands of Valley families were thankful for good deals this Thanksgiving

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Thanksgiving parade of parents stretched in front of Toys-R-Us. The few, the brave, the dedicated choosing to work this holiday for their children.

"This is just a list of my kids-- I have 15, I have 15. So that's why I'm here and it's worth it," said Lucida Vang, shopper.

Vang has stood in line every Thanksgiving since 2011. It's become a tradition for the family to get together for lunch before the ladies leave the kids with the husbands to burn off the food.

"Before we did the Black Friday, I spent close to a $1,000-- it cuts it in half, that's a deal right there."

The deals were also hot at Best Buy, where instead of Christmas shopping these people choose to spend the money on themselves. Getting a little pick me up from flatscreen TV's.

"They got em on sale for cheap, so I thought I'd go ahead and cop me one. You can't find them cheap like this especially for LG," said Lamonte Jones, shopper.

An hour and a half and four shopping carts later, Vang's family at Toys-R-Us is finally ready to call it a day.

Vang snagged almost all of her gifts for about $200.

"I feel good, I'm happy, I'm going to go home and get a good night's sleep."

All the while not forgetting the reason she's out this Thanksgiving. Battling the packed crowds is also what she is thankful for.

"They work hard though, they know mom and dad are always giving them want they want, you gotta work hard in school and go to school and get good grades," said Vang.

Most major stores opened Thursday afternoon. The store employees will continue working in shifts until they close Friday at midnight.