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Article snippet: Jennifer Gammell has not sat out Black Friday for 19 years — not when she was traveling over the holiday weekend, or living paycheck to paycheck as a young single mother, or even when some of the bargains online began to look more enticing than the doorbuster deals being offered in stores. The experience has changed over the years. Early on, it was just her and her son Kyle, now 23, waiting in line for discounts (and, sometimes, free toy penguins) at the local Mervyn’s. Now, it has become a family tradition, and her three other sons and her husband, Dave Gammell, sometimes tag along. The holiday weekend is the busiest shopping period of the year, with an estimated 164 million people — 69 percent of Americans — expected to hunt for deals, according to the National Retail Federation trade group. This week, the Gammells, who live in Southern California, began visiting stores on Thanksgiving as more businesses stayed open to generate more sales. Here’s a chronicle of their journey through two big holiday shopping days. 6:04 to 6:13 p.m. Thursday At home in Torrance, the family prepares for its annual Thanksgiving dinner at King’s Hawaiian Bakery & Restaurant. Jennifer gathers Black Friday ads from retailers, checks the lists the family has compiled, and packs a change of clothes and a pair of sneakers for the shopping trip after dinner. 6:32 to 7:31 p.m. The Gammells, lightly dressed for the balmy weather, arrive at the restaurant. They load up on turkey, veget... Link to the full article to read more