New York - Millions of Americans marked the holiday with lots of turkey, football, parades and early shopping, while many were overcoming some nasty weather and power outages. Here's a look at how Americans celebrated.

A Macy's Thanksgiving

Heavy security, including bomb-sniffing dogs and police helicopters, protected spectators of all ages who lined the route of the nationally televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which counted Thomas the Tank Engine, Paddington bear and the Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger among its six new giant balloons.

Daryl Winchester, 17, of Queens snagged a spot across the street from grandstands where the parade began. "This is great. It's nice to feel so festive for the holidays," she said as she took pictures, waved and shouted encouragement to parade participants.

Shannon Hampton, a Lakeland, Florida, resident celebrating her 18th birthday with a friend, said the parade was exciting. "My favorite part has to be the balloons because they are so much bigger in person than you think they would be," she said.

Six men and a woman protesting a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, were arrested after they tried to march toward the parade route, police said. Near the end of the parade route, about 50 protesters walked down the sidewalk carrying signs and chanting, "Hands up, don't shoot."

The first family

President Barack Obama spent a quiet Thanksgiving at the White House, where the belly-stuffing menu featured all the holiday's basics. He also continued a tradition of telephoning members of the armed forces to thank them for their service.

The first family feasted on thyme-roasted turkey and honey-baked ham, cornbread stuffing and oyster stuffing, braised greens and macaroni and cheese. Don't forget the green bean casserole, sweet potato gratin, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls and pies.

Obama said Thanksgiving is his favorite holiday "because, more than any other, it is uniquely American."

In the dark

Power outages from a major snowstorm forced some in the Northeast to celebrate Thanksgiving much like the pilgrims and Native Americans did almost 400 years ago - in the dark.

The outages were particularly bad in northern New England, where about 200,000 customers remained without power in New Hampshire on Thursday afternoon and about 80,000 were without electricity in Maine.

More than 35,000 in New York were without power Thursday afternoon and about 15,000 customers lacked power in New Jersey.

Holiday shopping

It's increasingly become commonplace to see stores open on Thanksgiving, as retailers try to entice shoppers a day earlier than the traditional Black Friday.

Associated Press writer Dave Gram in Montpelier, Vt., and Associated Press video journalist Ted Shaffrey in New York contributed to this report.